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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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LIFE OF 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



(1) 



THE LIFE 



OF 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, 

(OF OHIO,) 
THE PEOPLE'S CANDIDATE 



FOR 

THE PRESIDENCY. 

WITH A 
HISTORY OF THE WARS WITH 

THE BRITISH AND INDIANS 

ON OUR NORTH-WESTERN FRONTIER. 



J4.<UL^ feUl^ ^O 



it 



PHILADELPHIA : 
W. MARSHALL & CO. 



1840. 



k-i r' 



€.T' 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, 

BY T. R. JACKSON, 

in the clerk's office of the district court of the eastern district 

of Pennsylvania. 



4^f 



STEREOTYPED BY J. FAGAN PHILADELPHIA. 



PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN AND CO. 

(4) 






<■» 



PREFACE. 



The principal aim and object of the 
following biography, is to place before 
its readers a fair and impartial narra- 
tive of the life of one of our most emi- 
nent fellow-citizens, the history of 
whose public services, both civil and 
military, is, for many years, closely and 
inseparably interwoven with that of our 
country. The many responsible offices 
held by General Harrison, the numerous 
important treaties made by him with 
the Indians, and the prominent part he 
took in all the wars and negotiations on 
our North-western frontier, during one 

1 * (5) 



vi PREFACE. 

of the most exciting and eventful pe- 
riods of our national existence, render 
his hfe one of general and absorbing in- 
terest. Indeed we look upon the politi- 
cal and moral history of such a man as 
belonging to his country, and as consti- 
tuting one of those bright beacon-hghts 
destined to shine as long as the annals 
of our nation endure. To the character 
of such a man, justice is rarely done 
during his life-time. The carpings of 
envy or jealousy, and the misrepresent- 
ations of political opponents taint the 
public mind to a certain degree, and 
cast a shadow over the most brilhant 
actions and the purest and most virtu- 
' ous motives. But long after the stormy 
waves that now agitate the great ocean 
of political strife shall have subsided, 
when all personal opposition shall have 



PREFACE. vil 

shared the fate of its originators and 
have sunk into a merited obUvion, the 
page of history will still record, with 
perennial fame, the good deeds and no- 
ble actions of the patriot, the hero and 
the statesman ; and grateful generations 
shall point to his example as a bright 
and unclouded load-star to guide them 
in the true course to honest and ho- 
nourable distinction. 

The author of this little work has 
made no attempt at a eulogium. From 
a long personal acquaintance with 
General Harrison, and a knowledge as 
well as admiration of his character, . 
he has certainly felt at liberty to ex- 
press himself on some points relating 
to his private life, more fully than he 
would otherwise have ventured. Still 
his sole endeavour has been to dis- 



viii PREFACE. 

charge his duty faithfully to his fellow- 
citizens, and render them at the present 
time an acceptable service by offering 
within as brief a space as possible, a 
clear, candid, and comprehensive narra- 
tive of the life of General Harrison, and 
of the wars and negotiations on our 
North-western frontier, in which he took 
so active a part, from the date of St. 
Clair's defeat to the close of our last 
contest with Great Britain — a period 
embracing a portion of our general his- 
tory, full of exciting and thrilling inte- 
rest, and yet but little known to the 
great mass of the people. 

Many of the materials for this biogra- 
phy have been derived from " Dawson's 
Narrative of the Civil and Military Ser- 
vices of General Harrison," a large oc- 
tavo published in Cincinnati, in 1824, 



PREFACE. ix 

but long since out of print ; from " But- 
ler's History of Kentucky ;" and from 
" M'x\fee's History of the Late War in 
the Western Country." "Hall's Me- 
moir of the Public Services of William 
Henry Harrison" has likewise occasion- 
ally been consulted. And to ensure the 
necessary accuracy on many leading 
points of history, a due reference has 
also been made to our public documents 
and state papers connected with the 
events here recorded. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Harrison's birth and parentage. — Sketch of his 
father's public life and services. — Harrison's 
education — His determination to enter the 
army.— Situation of our North-western frontier 
at that time. — British intrigues. — Defeat of 
General Harmar Page 15 

CHAPTER n. 

Harrison enters the United States' army with the 
commission of an ensign.— Defeat of St. Clair.— 
Appointment of General Wayne. — Organiza- 
tion of the United States legion.— Harrison is 
promoted to a lieutenancy. — Is appointed aid 
to the commander-in-chief. — Wayne's cam- 
paigns. — Battle of the Maumee Rapids, and 
final defeat of the Indians.— Harrison's appoint- 
ment to the command of Fort Washington. — His 
marriage --------22 

CHAPTER III. 

Harrison resigns his commission in the army. Is 

appointed Secretary and Lieutenant Governor 
of the North-western Territory.— Is elected De- 
legate to Congress.— Introduces a bill to regu- 

(11) 



xii CONTENTS. 

late the disposal of the public lands. — Its justice 
and true policy. — Its success. — The North- 
western Territory divided. — Harrison resigns 
his seat in Congress. — Is appointed Governor of 
Indiana Territory -- ..-.----42 

CHAPTER IV. 

Condition of Indiana Territory. — Harrison is ap- 
pointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs and 
Commissioner for treating with the Indians. — 
His extensive jurisdiction and powers. — Harri- 
son's address to the territorial legislature. — The 
cession of Louisiana to the United States - - 48 

CHAPTER V. 

Intrigues of Tecumthe and the Prophet. — The 
Prophet's visit to Vincennes and interview with 
Harrison. — Treaty of Fort Wayne. — Dissatisfac- 
tion of Tecumthe. — Tecumthe's interview with 
the Governor. — The Governor's firmness and 
intrepidity. — Harrison's Message to the Legisla- 
ture. — Triumphant refutation of slander - - - 62 

CHAPTER VL 

Commencement of hostilities. — Harrison assembles 
the Militia and Volunteers. — He organizes his 
forces. — March to the Prophet's town. — Battle 
of Tippecanoe. — Its results - - 81 

CHAPTER VIL 

Declaration of War with Great Britain. — Mea- 
sures adopted to defend our North-western fron- 
tier. — Governor Harrison is appointed Major 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

General in the Kentucky militia. — lie receives 
the commission of Briofadier General in the 
service of the United States. — He is made Com- 
mander-in-chief of the North-western army. — 
His extensive powers and arduous duties. — 
Plan of the Campaign. — Massacre at the River 
Raisin. — Expedition against the Indian towns - 104 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Opening of the second Campaign. — Siege at Fort 
Meigs. — Its gallant Defence. — Brilliant sortie. — 
Defeat of Colonel Dudley. — The Siege aban- 
doned. — Second Siege of Fort Meigs. — Attack 
on Fort Stephenson 133 

CHAPTER IX. 

Harrison advises the construction of a fleet on 
Lake Erie. — Perry's Victory. — Embarkation of 
the army. — Invasion of Canada. — Pursuit of the 
enemy. — Battle of the Thames and capture of 
the British army. — Close of the campaign. — 
Resignation of General Harrison 149 

CHAPTER X. 

Appointment of General Harrison as Commissioner 
to treat with the Indians. — His election to Con- 
gress. — Is chosen a Senator of the State Legis- 
lature. — His election to the Senate of the United 
States. — Is appointed Minister to Colombia. — 
His Letter to Bolivar. — His recall. — His personal 
appearance and private Character. — His Letter 
to Harmar Denny ---- - 170 

2 



LIFE 



OP 



WIjlLIAM henry HARRISON. 



CHAPTER I. 



Harrison's birth and parentage. — Sketch of his father's 
public life and services. — Harrison's education. — His 
determination to enter the army. — Situation of our 
North-western frontier at that time. — British in- 
trigues. — Defeat of General Harmer. 

William Henry Harrison was born in 
Virginia, on the ninth day of February, 1773, 
at Berkeley, an estate on the James River, in 
the county of Charles City. The family from 
which he is descended settled in Virginia in 
the year 1640. At an extremely early period 
in the history of that province, the name of 
Harrison appears among the most prominent 
mentioned in their pubhc annals, and the 
honourable station which it then held has de- 
scended unsullied to our own times. 

(15) 



16 LIFE OF 

Benjamin Harrison, the father of the subject 
of this memoir, was one of the foremost and 
most conspicuous patriots of our country. 
Before he had attained his twenty-first year, 
he was elected to the provincial legislature, 
and took his seat in the House of Burgesses, 
where he continued to represent his native 
district, with much honour, for many years. 
He, on every occasion, manifested a sincere 
devotion to the interests of the province, and 
was one of that patriotic band of members 
who united, heart and hand, in opposing the op- 
pressive measures of the mother country. On 
the fourteenth of November, 1764, he was ap- 
pointed with several other distinguished mem- 
bers of the house, to prepare an address to the 
king, a memorial to the lords, and a remon- 
strance to the house of commons, in opposi- 
tion to the odious Stamp Act — a bill in favour 
of which had already been proposed to parlia- 
ment by George Grenville, the British minister 
of finance. These papers were accordingly 
prepared by this committee, and Mr. Harrison 
thus evinced, several years before the date of 
our revolution, his determination to side with 
the people in their struggle to defend their sa- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. ]7 

cred rights, and in their resistance to the rapa- 
cious tyranny of the crown. 

In August, 1774, Mr. Harrison was ap- 
pointed one of the delegates from Virginia to 
the first Continental Congress, which assem- 
bled in Philadelphia, on the first of the ensuing 
September : and on that day, he had the grati- 
fication of seeina^ his colleao;ue and brother-in- 
law, Peyton Randolph, placed in the presiden- 
tial chair by the unanimous choice of the 
assembled delegates. 

At the Congress of the following year, 1775, 
after the death of Mr. Randolph, it was the 
w^ish of nearly all the southern members, that 
Mr. Harrison should succeed him in the presi- 
dency ; but as the patriotic John Hancock of 
Massachusetts had likewise been nominated, 
Mr. Harrison, to avoid any sectional jealousy 
or unkindness of feeling between the northern 
and southern delegates, at so momentous a 
crisis, with a noble self-denial and generosity 
relinquished his own claims, and insisted on 
the election of Mr. Hancock, who accordingly 
had the honour of being unanimously chosen 
to that high office. Mr. Harrison still, how- 
ever, continued one of the most active -and 
influential members of the Continental Con- 
2* 



] 8 LIFE OF 

gress. On the tenth of Jane, 1776, as chair- 
man of the committee of the whole house, he 
introduced the resolution which declared the 
independence of the colonies, and on the fol- 
lowing ever-memorable fourth of July, he 
reported the more formal Declaration of In- 
dependence, to which celebrated document 
his signature is annexed. 

The Legislature of Virginia returned Mr. 
Harrison four times as a delegate to Congress. 
On the expiration of his last term of congres- 
sional service, he was immediately elected to 
the House of Burgesses from his own county, 
and was at once chosen speaker of that body ; 
an office which he held uninterruptedly until 
the year 1782, when he was elected governor 
of Virginia, and "became one of the most 
popular officers that ever filled the executive 
chair. This eminent patriot died in the year 
1791. 

William Henry Harrison was left by his 
father under the guardianship of his friend, 
Robert Morris, the distinguished financier of 
our revolution. He was educated at Hamp- 
den Sydney College ; and, by the advice of 
his friends, turned his attention to the study 
of medicine. But about the period when he 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 19 

had completed his education, soon after the 
death of his father, the increased and barba- 
rous hostihties of the Indians on our north- 
western borders, began to excite a feehng of 
indignation throughout the whole country. In 
this general excitement our young student par- 
ticipated so warmly, that he resolved to relin- 
quish his professional pursuits, and join the 
army destined to the defence of the Ohio 
frontier. The service was then neither popu- 
lar nor inviting, but on the contrary was ex- 
ceedingly toilsome and fraught with great 
danger and hardships ; and nothing but high 
courage and elevated motives, could have 
induced him to form such a resolve at so 
gloomy a period. This determination was 
warmly opposed, too, by many of his friends 
as well as by his prudent guardian. But his 
generous design was cordially approved and 
encouraged by one whom he thought entitled 
to even more influence — by General Wash- 
ington, who had been his father's intimate 
friend, and who was, at that time, president 
of the United States. 

The war in our western country was then 
assuming a very alarming aspect. But few 
of the warlike Indians on the frontier had at 



20 ' LIFE OF 

that time declared in our favour, while the 
powerful tribes of the Miamies, the Hurons, or 
Wyandots, the Delawares, the Shawnees, the 
Kichapoos, the Potowatomies, the Ottawas, and 
the Winnebagoes, who occupied all the borders 
of our northern lakes, and were scattered 
through the whole immense extent of our north- 
western territory, were engaged in active 
hostility against the United States. 

Most of these Indian tribes had been in the 
service of Great Britain during our revolution- 
ary struggle ; and they were no doubt urged 
to the course they now pursued, in some mea- 
sure, by their own savage love for war, but 
still more by the instigations of the British 
authorities in Canada, who, contrary to the 
provisions of the treaty of peace, still held for- 
cible possession of Detroit, Mackinac, Niagara, 
and other forts in our acknowledged territory, 
and continued to tamper with the Indians 
within our limits, and to supply them freely 
with arms and ammunition to carry on the 
war against our country. Thus incited, they 
still persisted in their barbarous hostilities, and 
accounts were almost daily received of their 
having perpetrated some ruthless aggression or 
outrage of unexampled ferocity. From the 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 21 

year 1783, when Great Britain acknowledged 
our independence, and war with the nnother 
country ceased, up to the year 1791, it was 
estimated that more than fifteen hundred of 
our hardy borderers had fallen victims to the 
rifle and scalping-knife of their savage foes. 
Our north-western frontier presented an appal- 
ling scene of rapine, conflagration, and wanton 
destruction of life and property. Many of our 
border settlements had been crushed in their 
infancy, and all had been retarded in their 
growth. Expedition after expedition, fitted 
out to oppose them, had met with the most 
disheartening losses; and' finally a gallant 
army under Brigadier General Harmer, which 
had been sent expressly to chastise these sa- 
vages, after destroying some of their towns, 
had been signally defeated by them, and al- 
most annihilated. Of the few experienced 
officers who escaped from Harmer's defeat, 
nearly all, worn out with the fatigues of a 
service so harassing, and shrinking from a 
warfare of so dangerous and barbarous a na- 
ture, had resigned their commissions ; and a 
general feeUng of dismay began to pervade 
the whole of our exposed frontier. 

Such was the gloomy aspect of aflfairs, when 



22 LIFE OF 

the ardent and generous patriotism of young 
Harrison prompted him to give up the com- 
forts and luxuries that surrounded him at 
home, and enter his country's service in de- 
fence of his fellow-citizens. 



CHAPTER II. 

Harrison enters the United States' army with the com- 
mission of an ensign. — Defeat of St. Clair. — Appoint- 
ment of General Wayne. — Organization of the 
United States legion. — Harrison is promoted to a 
lieutenancy. — Is appointed aid to the commander-in- 
chief. — Wayne's campaigns. — Battle of the Maumee 
Rapids, and final defeat of the Indians. — Harrison's 
appointment to the command of Fort Washington. — 
His marriage. 

In the autumn of the year 1791, Harrison 
received the commission of an ensign in the 
United States artillery, from the hands of the 
president. General Washington, whose warm 
approval had greatly cheered him in his de- 
sign. He hastened immediately to join his 
regiment, which was then stationed at Fort 
Washington, which occupied the present site 
of the city of Cincinnati, where he arrived a 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 23 

few days after the unfortunate defeat of 
General St. Clair, near the Miami villages, 
by the confederated Indians, under the com- 
mand of Meshecunnaqua, the Little Turtle, a 
celebrated Miami warrior, and Buckongelas, 
head chief of the Delawares. This disastrous 
defeat, in which St. Clair's army was de- 
stroyed, with the loss of nearly a thousand 
men, killed or taken prisoners, left the whole 
of our north-western frontier exposed to the 
ravages of a merciless enemy, and added 
greatly to the general consternation before 
existing. 

The whole defence of our extensive frontier 
now devolved on the broken fragments of an 
army panic-struck and dispirited by their re- 
cent defeat, while the Indians, flushed with 
victory, had grown still more daring and au- 
dacious than ever. Winter was approaching, 
and the, privations to be anticipated by those 
who were stationed at our remote posts were 
so great, that Harrison, young, slender, and 
apparently of a delicate constitution, was ad- 
vised by his friends to resign his commission, 
and avoid hardships which he seemed but little 
fitted to encounter. But he rejected this ad- 
vice without hesitation, and by an almost 



24 LIFE OF 

reckless exposure of his person to danger and 
fatigue, soon proved himself well qualified for 
the arduous service he had chosen. 

Not long after his arrival at Fort Washing- 
ton, his courage and good conduct were put 
to the test, by his being appointed to the com- 
mand of an escort having in charge a supply 
of provisions and munitions of war, destined 
for Fort Hamilton. The perilous duty of 
conducting this escort through a wilderness 
infested by hostile Indians, required an un- 
common degree of personal exposure, as well 
as constant watchfulness, and a greater share 
of prudence and military sagacity than is 
usually found in so young an officer. But he 
acquitted himself of this duty with so much 
skill and success as to elicit the warm appro- 
bation and encomium of his commander, 
General St. Clair. 

At this time, the degrading vice of intem- 
perance was unhappily but too common among 
the officers of our army. Removed from the 
wholesome restraints of civilized society, and 
deprived of the comforts of domestic life, the 
extreme hardships they were often compelled 
to endure, predisposed the young officers, in 
their moments of relaxation, to indulge in de- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 25 

basing excesses, to the great injury of their 
reputation and the frequent destruction of their 
health. But Harrison had the good sense tO' 
see the danger to which he was exposed, andl 
the firmness of character to resist the entice- 
naents of dissipation. And in the midst of 
these temptations, he laid the foundation of 
those habits of temperance, which subsequently 
enabled him to support so well the severe fa- 
tigues and hardships of a border warfare, and' 
w^iich have adliered to him through life, giving 
him, even to the present day, a remarkable- 
degree of health and vigour. 

In the unfortunate state of things existing- 
after St. Clair's defeat, our government saw 
the necessity, of adopting immediate and effi- 
cient means to put an end to this savage con- 
flict. Another army was promptly raised, and' 
the command given to General Anthony 
Wayne of Pennsylvania, a gallant and skilful 
officer, who had earned a brilliant reputatioa^ 
in the revolutionary war. The United States- 
Legion, as Wayne's army was called in the 
new organization, assembled at Pittsburgh, ia^ 
the summer of 1792 ; and in the ensuing month 
of November, they left that place, and went 

into winter quarters, at an eligible position on 
3 



26 LIFE OF 

the Ohio, 22 miles below Pittsburgh. This 
place they called Legmiville. 

Our illustrious President, Washington, guid- 
ed by his customary humanity, had instructed 
General Wayne to endeavour, if possible, to 
conciliate the Indians, and prevent the further 
effusion of blood. In pursuance of these in- 
structions, General Wayne invited several dis- 
tinguished chiefs of some of the principal tribes 
to visit him at Legionville. Accordingly, in 
March, 1793, Cornplanter, a noted warrior, 
Guasthua, an aged chief, JVeic Arrow, Big 
Tree, and several others, made their appear- 
ance at the encampment. But after a council 
with these chiefs, it soon became evident that 
no honourable terms of peace could be esta- 
blished with the Indians. Excited by their 
recent victories, and stimulated by the intrigues 
of the British, they had become exceedingly 
unreasonable in their demands. They now 
insisted that the American government should 
relinquish all claim to the immense extent of 
territory north-west of the Ohio river, notwith- 
standing it had been obtained by open and re- 
peated treaties and by fair purchase, and had 
already been partially disposed of to actual 
settlers, whose rights, emanating from our 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 27 

government, we were, in common justice, 
bound to protect. They further declared that 
nothing would now satisfy them but the estab- 
lishment of the Ohio river as a permanent 
boundary, beyond which our settlements should 
never be permitted to extend. 

Terms so haughtily demanded, and so stern- 
ly opposed to our national honour and good 
faith, as well as to our interest, were, of course, 
wholly inadmissible ; and General Wayne was 
now compelled to prepare for the only alter- 
native offered him, a savage and desolating 
war. This was, therefore, on our part, strictly 
a war of self-defence — since we had no other 
honourable means of defending our border 
settlements from the fierce ao!:orressions of the 
Indians, or of uprooting the influence of the 
British authorities, who, in defiance of the de- 
claration of peace, were still warring against 
us through their former savage auxiliaries. 

On the 30th of April, 1793, General Wayne 
broke up his winter quarters at Legion ville, 
and conveyed his army in boats down the 
Ohio to Fort Washington. At this place Har- 
rison, having been promoted to a lieutenancy, 
joined the Legion. His fearlessness and en- 
ergy, with his strict attention to discipline, soon 



28 LIFE OF 

attracted the notice of his commander-in-chief, 
himself a bold and daring soldier and a rigid 
disciplinarian ; and General Wayne, not long 
after his arrival, selected him as one of his 
aids-de-camp. 

It will thus be seen at how early a period, 
and in what trying times, young Harrison was 
thought worthy of honourable distinction ; and 
how soon, too, he attracted the attention and 
especial notice of a man and a soldier like 
Wayne, whose well-known independence of 
character was such, that no influence save that 
of intrinsic merit was ever with him of any 
avail, and whose daring and almost reckless 
intrepidity had won him, in our revolutionary 
war, the singular appellation of " Mad An- 
thony." 

The ensuing suriimer was occupied by Gen- 
eral Wayne in disciplining his troops, and in 
obtaining reinforcements and supplies, prepar- 
atory to the next campaign. Having at length 
received instructions from the Secretary of 
War to commence active operations, early in 
October he left Fort Washington, and ad- 
vanced with his army eighty miles along the 
south-western bank of the Miami. But as the 
season was now too far advanced to permit 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 29 

him to carry the plans he had formed into exe- 
cution, he strongly fortified a position which 
was called Greenville, where his army went 
into quarters for the winter. 

But the winter was not suffered to pass in 
idleness. On the 23d of December, the com- 
mander-in-chief sent a detachment of eight 
companies of infantry and a battalion of artil- 
lery, to take possession of the ground on which 
St. Clair's army had been defeated. A strong 
post, called Fort Recoveiy, was built on this 
mournful battle-field, and the bones of our gal- 
lant soldiers, who were there slain, were care- 
fully collected and interred with military hon- 
ours. The artillery used on this interesting 
occasion, to pay the last tribute of respect over 
the graves of those who fell on the bloody 4th 
of November, 1791, were the same that were 
lost on that fatal dav, but which were now 
recovered bv this detachment. 

In the general order issued by the com- 
mander-in-chief, on the return of these troops, 
he particularly notices Lieutenant Harrison, 
who accompanied the expedition — and tenders 
him " his best thanks for his voluntary aid and 
services on this occasion." We thus find Har- 
rison, though at an early age, and young in 
3* 



30 LIFE OF 

the service, foremost in volunteering his aid 
on every occasion where danger was to be 
encountered or duty performed. 

On the 30th of June, 1794, Fort Recovery 
was fiercely assailed by a large body of In- 
dians, aided by British and Canadian auxili- 
aries. But though their assaults were unusu- 
ally bold and daring, and repeatedly renewed, 
they were each time bravely repulsed, and 
were finally compelled to retreat with great 
loss. About two weeks subsequent to this at- 
tack on Fort Recovery, General Wayne was 
reinforced by a body of mounted volunteers 
from Kentucky, under the command of Gene- 
ral Scott. On the 8th of the following Au- 
gust, having, by a rapid movement, advanced 
seventy miles beyond Greenville, he encamped 
at Grand Glaise, in the very heart of the In- 
dian country. In his dispatch to the War 
Department on this occasion, the commander- 
in-chief says, — "We have thus gained posses- 
sion of the grand emporium of the hostile In- 
dians in the west, w^ithout loss of blood. The 
very extensive and highly-cultivated fields and 
gardens show the work of many hands. The 
margins of those beautiful rivers, the Miami 
of the Lake, and Au Glaise, appear like one 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 31 

continued village for a number of miles above 
and below the place ; nor have I ever before 
beheld such immense fields of corn in any part 
of America, from Canada to Florida." 

A strong work, called Fort Defiance, was 
immediately erected by our troops at the con- 
fluence of the rivers mentioned in the above 
despatch. General Wayne now felt himself 
fully prepared for decisive operations ; but be- 
fore striking the final blow, he, in compliance 
with his instructions, renewed his endeavours 
to conciliate and effect some amicable nes:otia- 
tion with the Indians. " I have thought pro- 
per," he said, " to offer the enemy a last over- 
ture of peace ; and as they have every thing 
that is dear and interesting at stake, I have 
reason to expect they will listen to the propo- 
sition mentioned in the inclosed copy of an ad- 
dress dispatched yesterday by a special flag, 
under circumstances that will insure his safe 
return, and may eventually spare the effusion 
of much human blood." " But should war be 
their choice, that blood be upon their own 
heads. America shall no longer be insulted 
with impunity. To an all-powerful and just 
God, I therefore commit myself and gallant 
army," 



32 LIFE OF 

The Indians haughtily rejected this over- 
ture, contrary to the advice of Little Turtle, 
the celebrated warrior who had commanded 
the combined forces of the Indian tribes at the 
defeat of St. Clair's army. This sagacious 
chief, at a council held by the Indians on the 
night of the 19th of August, a few hours only 
before the battle, strongly recommended the 
acceptance of the offered terms of peace. 
" We have beaten the enemy," said he, " twice, 
under separate commanders. We cannot ex- 
pect the same good fortune to attend us al- 
ways. The Americans are now led by a chief 
who never sleeps : the night and the day are 
alike to him. And during all the time he has 
been marching upon our villages, notwithstand- 
ing the W'atchfulness of our young men, we 
have never been able to surprise him. Think 
well of it. There is something whispers me 
it w^ould be prudent to listen to his offers of 
peace." 

General Wayne had, in the meantime, left 
Fort Defiance, and advanced within a short 
distance of the Rapids of the Miami, (now 
generally knowai as the Mavjnee,) where the 
British had recently erected a strong fort for 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 33 

the purpose of encouraging and controlling 
the neighbouring Indians. 

On the 19th of August our troops were em- 
ployed in making a temporary fortification, 
which they called Fort Deposite, for the pro- 
tection of their military stores and baggage, 
and in reconnoitring the position of the In- 
dians who were encamped behind a thick, 
bushy wood, and near the British fort. On 
the following day was fought that mem.orable 
battle, which we cannot better describe than 
by quoting a portion of the graphic account 
of General Wayne himself, in his official let- 
ter to the Secretary of War. 

" At 8 o'clock on the 20th," said General 
Wayne, "the army advanced in columns, 
agreeably to the standing order of march ; the 
legion on the right flank, covered by the Mi- 
ami, — one brigade of mounted volunteers on 
the left, under Brigadier General Todd, and 
the other in the rear, under Brigadier Gen- 
eral Barbee : — a select battalion of mounted 
volunteers moved in front of the legion, com- 
manded by Major Price, who was directed to 
keep sufficiently advanced — so as to give 
timely notice for the troops to form, in case 
of action — it being yet undetermined whether 



34 LIFE OF 

the Indians would decide for peace or war. 
After advancing about five miles, Major 
Price's corps received so severe a fire from 
the enemy, who were secreted in the woods 
and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. 

"The legion was immediately formed in 
two lines, principally in a close, thick wood, 
which extended for miles on our left ; and for 
a very considerable distance in front, the 
ground being covered with old fallen timber, 
probably occasioned by a tornado, which ren- 
dered it impracticable for cavalry to act with 
effect, and afforded the enemy the most favour- 
able covert for their savage mode of warfare, 
they were formed in three lines, within sup- 
porting distance of each other, and extending 
nearly two miles, at right angles with the 
river. 

*' I soon discovered, from the weight of the 
fire, and extent of their lines, that the enemy 
were in full force in front, in possession of 
their favourite ground, and endeavouring to 
turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders 
for the second line to advance, to support the 
first, and directed Major General Scott to gain 
and turn the right flank of the savages, with 
the whole of the mounted volunteers, by a 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 35 

circuitous route : at the same time I ordered 
the front Hne to advance with trailed arms, 
and rouse the Indians from their coverts at 
the point of the bayonet; and, when up, to 
deliver a close and well directed fire on their 
backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not 
to give them time to load again. I also 
ordered Captain Campbell, who commanded 
the legionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of 
the enemy next the river, which afforded a 
favourable field for that corps to act in. 

"All these, orders were obeyed with spirit 
and promptitude ; but such was the impetuos- 
ity of the charge of the first line of infantry, 
that the Indians and Canadian militia and 
volunteers were driven from all their coverts 
in so short a time, that although every exer- 
tion was used by the officers of the second 
line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, 
Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, 
to gain their proper positions, yet but a part 
of each could get up in season to participate 
in the action ; the enemy being driven, in the 
course of one hour, more than two miles, 
through the thick woods already mentioned, 
by less than one-half their numbers. 

" From every account, the enemy amount- 



36 LIFE OF 

ed to two thousand combatants ; the troops 
actually engaged against them were short of 
nine hundred. This horde of savages, with 
their aUies, abandoned themselves to flight, 
and dispersed with terror and dismay, leav- 
ing our victorious army in full and quiet pos- 
session of the field of battle, which terminated 
under the influence of the guns of the British 
garrison. 

'* Inclosed is a particular return of the kill- 
ed and wounded — the loss of the enemy was 
more than double that of the federal army. 
The woods were strewed for a considerable 
distance with the dead bodies of the Indians, 
and their white auxiliaries ; the latter armed 
with British muskets and bayonets. 

"We remained three days and nights on 
the banks of the Miami, in front of the field 
of battle, during which all the houses and 
corn-fields were consumed and destroyed for 
a considerable distance, both above and below 
Fort Miami, as well as within pistol-shot of 
that garrison, who were compelled to remain 
tacit spectators of this general devastation 
and conflagration — among which were the 
houses, stores, and property of Colonel M'Kee, 
the British Indian agent, and principal stimu- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 37 

lator of the war now existing between the 
United States and the savages." 

The success of this brilHant action, sO' 
strongly in contrast to our previous contests; 
with the Indians, was owing, undoubtedly, ta 
the high state of discipline of the army, and"^ 
to the consummate skill and judgment dis- 
played by General Wayne, in the entirely^ 
novel system of tactics originated by him.. 
He not only adopted the old and approved 
mode of extending his hne and forming his 
troops in open order, to lessen their exposure 
to the deadly aim of the enemy, but he intro- 
duced, likewise, his favourite plan of charg- 
ing rapidly upon the Indians, and rousing- 
them from their coverts at the point of the 
bayonet, and then pouring in a close and 
heavy fire, before they could again shelter 
themselves. This system, which proved so- 
effectual at the battle of the Maumee Rapids,, 
has since been almost universally adopted in 
our warfare with the Indians. 

In his dispatch to the Secretary of Wari. 
after this decisive action. General Wayne, in 
mentioning those whose good conduct and 
intrepidity were particularly conspicuous on; 
this occasion, says — " My faithful and gallant 
4 



38 LIFE OF 

aid-de-camp, Lieutenant Harrison^ rendered 
the most essential service by communicating 
my orders in every direction, and by his con- 
duct and bravery exciting the troops to press 
for victory." 

We hold it not to be amiss here to remark, 
that in addition to the acknowledged services 
of General Wayne in the camp and field, time 
has proved that that fearless soldier and dis- 
tinguished commander has placed our country 
under a still deeper debt of gratitude — since 
the instructions he gave his favourite aid in 
his severe school of discipline, the example he 
showed him, and the experience he led him to 
acquire in the arduous campaigns they en- 
countered together, subsequently in still more 
trying and perilous times, enabled Harrison 
to fight the battles of his country against the 
same savage foe with such signal success, 
that though more frequently in conflict with 
the enemy than any other general in our ser- 
vice, and though often attacked by vastly su- 
perior numbers, he neve?" yet has been defeated. 

The heavy losses suffered by the confede- 
rated tribes in the battle of the Maumee Ra- 
pids, greatly disheartened the Indians, and 
their dissatisfaction was much increased by 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 39 

the vacillating conduct of Colonel Campbell, 
the comniander of the British fort, who, after 
their defeat, refused to take any part on their 
behalf The distinguished and powerful chiefs, 
Little Turtle and Buckongelas, doubting the 
power of Great Britain to protect thenn, and 
now taught to respect our strength, openly 
declared in favour of the United States, and 
by their influence, a negotiation for peace was 
opened on the first of January, 1795. After 
Sonne delay, a council was held at Greenville, 
between General Wayne and a numerous 
delegation of chiefs and warriors from the 
principal tribes, and an honourable and highly 
advantageous treaty was finally effected with 
our Indian neighbours. And thus, with the 
close of this war were extinguished what 
may be considered as the last embers of our 
revolutionary struggle. 

The impression produced in London by the 
news of this final defeat of the Indians, is said 
to have had much effect in hasteninsc to a 
conclusion the protracted negotiation, which 
had been so long pending between Mr. Jay 
and Lord Grenville, and which was now ter- 
minated successfully and advantageously to 
our country. 



40 LIFE OF 

Soon after the close of this campaign, Lieu- 
tenant Harrison received the commission of a 
captain, and was placed in command of Fort 
Washington, under circumstances which 
evinced the high estimation in which his ta- 
lents and discretion were held by General 
Wayne. At this period France was at war 
with Spain ; and certain agents of the French 
government had been sent to Kentucky by 
Genet, the French minister, and were then 
diligently employed in exciting the gallant 
people of that state to an invasion of Louisi- 
ana, by which means they hoped to embroil 
our co-untry in a war with Spain. One of 
our distinguished officers. General Clark, had 
artfully been prevailed upon to take command 
of the proposed expedition, and commissions 
■were offered, and money and munitions of war 
freely promised, to induce the adventurous 
spirits of the West to engage in a campaign 
for the purpose of wresting Louisiana from 
the Spaniards. This project was peculiarly 
attractive to the Kentuckians, who had long 
felt aggrieved by the refusal of the Spaniards 
to allow them the free navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi river. Our government was soon made 
aware of this scheme, and serious apprehen- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISO]N. 41 

sions were entertained that some hasty and 
rash act of hostility would involve us in a war 
with Spain. General Wayne received in- 
structions to adopt every precaution to pre- 
vent the occurrence of such a result ; and in 
sriving the command of Fort Washine^ton to 
Captain Harrison, he left with him extensive 
discretionary powers in relation to the ma- 
nagement of this delicate responsibility. About 
this time, too, in compliance with the terms 
of Jay's treaty, the military posts, which, in 
defiance of good faith, had been established 
by the British on our northwestern frontier, 
were given up to the United States ; and 
Captain Harrison was charged with the im- 
portant duty of dispatching from Fort Wash- 
ington the troops destined to take possession 
of the surrendered forts, and of forwarding 
through the wilderness the stores and muni- 
tions of war necessary for these remote posts. 
These various duties were discharged by 
Captain Harrison with so much fidelity, skill 
and prudence, as fully to prove the judicious 
discrimination of General Wayne in his selec- 
tion of the commander of so importanl; a sta- 
tion as Fort Washington, and to justify his 

unusual confidence in so young an officer, 

4* 



42 LIFE OF 

While in command of Fort Washington, 
Captain Harrison married the daughter of 
John Cleves Symmes, the celebrated founder 
of the Miami settlements — a lady who com- 
mands the esteem and respect of all who know 
her. 



CHAPTER m. 

Harrison resigns his commission in the army. — Is ap- 
pointed Secretary and Lieutenant Governor of the 
North-western Territory. — Is elected Delegate to 
Congress. — Introduces a bill to regulate the disposal 
of the public lands. — Its justice and true policy. — Its 
success. — The Northwestern Territory divided. — 
Harrison resigns his seat in Congress. — Is appointed 
Governor of Indiana Territory. 

Captain Harrison remained in the army till 
near the close of the year 1797; when, soon 
after the death of his friend General Wayne, 
as peace had been estabUshed with the In- 
dians, and there was no longer an opportunity 
to serve his country in the field, he resigned 
his commission, to commence his career of 
civil services. He was almost immediately 
appointed Secretary, and, ex-officio, Lieutenant 
Governor of the Northwestern Territory; 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 43 

which then embraced the whole extent of our 
territory lying north-west of the Ohio river — • 
thus, by a just award, receiving his first civil 
appointment, in that part of our country which 
he had first perilled his life to defend. 

While in this station, he entered so warmly 
into the interests of the people, and his intelli- 
gence, and the kindness and urbanity of his 
manners rendered him so popular, that, when, 
in the following year, the Northwestern Ter- 
ritory entered the second grade of govern- 
ment, according to the system which then 
prevailed, and the inhabitants became entitled 
to representation in the councils of the nation, 
they almost unanimously elected him their first 
delegate to Congress. Mr. Harrison was, at 
this time, about twenty-six years of age. 

He took his seat in the House of Represent- 
atives at the first session of the sixth Con- 
gress, in December, 1799. There were then 
in Congress some of the ablest and most en- 
lightened statesmen, and some of the most elo- 
quent men our country has ever produced. 
Yet in this severe ordeal, the abilities and 
manly energies of Mr. Harrison soon com- 
manded universal respect. At this period, the 
all-engrossing subject in the west, and one in 



44 LIFE OF 

which our whole country had a deep interest, 
was the sale of the public lands. The manner 
in which these lands had been hitherto disposed 
of, had created great dissatisfaction among the 
people. They had been sold only in large 
tracts ; the smallest of which included, at least, 
four thousand acres ; and as the minimum 
price was at that time two dollars per acre, a 
great majority of the new settlers were utterly 
precluded from becoming possessors of land 
by an original purchase from the government. 
Our hardy yeomanry, with limited pecuniary 
means, were thus entirely shut out from all 
chance of competition with wealthy specula- 
tors and grasping monopolists, — the poorer 
emigrants were becoming^ disheartened at the 
chilling prospects before them, and the settle- 
ment of the new country was greatly retarded. 
Fully aware of the impolicy and injustice of 
this state of things, and true to the trust con- 
fided to him, Mr. Harrison's earliest legislative 
efforts were made to overthrow this exclusive 
and pernicious system. He aroused the atten- 
tion of Consjress to the consideration of this 
important subject, and evinced so intimate an 
acquaintance with the facts and business de- 
tails connected with it, that he was appointed 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 45 

chairman of a committee raised to examine 
into and report on the existing mode of dis- 
posing of the pubhc lands ; the only instance, 
it is believed, in which that honour has been 
conferred on a territorial delegate. After a 
proper investigation, he presented a report, 
accompanied by a bill, the principal object of 
which was to reduce the size of the tracts of 
pubhc land oflered for sale, to such a smaller 
number of acres as would place them within 
the reach of actual settlers. This masterly 
report, which was the joint production of him- 
self and Mr. Gallatin, together with the great 
ability and eloquence with which he defended 
his bill from the powerful opposition it encoun- 
tered in the House, gained Mr. Harrison a 
reputation rarely attained by so young a states- 
man. The bill was carried triumphantly in 
the House, and finally, after some amend- 
ments, passed the Senate. The result was, 
that the public lands, instead of being offered 
only in large tracts, of which four thousand 
acres was the smallest size, were now to be 
sold in alternate sections and half sections — 
the former containing G40, and the latter 320 
acres each. The point gained was of immense 
importance, since, from tlie low price of these 



46 LIFE OF 

lands, and the small amount of purchase money 
required to be paid, they were now, with the 
aid of industry, within the reach of nearly all 
the poorer emigrants and actual settlers, who 
felt a natural desire to own the fee simple of 
their homes, and of the lands they subdued 
from the v/ilderness. Thousands of the hardy 
and industrious farmers of our Northern and 
Middle States, and many of the poorer plant- 
ers of the South, availed themselves of the fair 
field which was now opened for emigration 
and enterprise ; and we may justly consider 
this happy result, which Mr. Harrison was so 
instrumental in producing, as one of the lead- 
ing causes of the rapid settlement and pros- 
perity of our Western Country. 

The justice and true policy of reducing the 
size of the tracts of public lands offered for 
sale having been once admitted, subsequent 
legislators have found it not only a politic, but 
a popular measure, and have followed up the 
principle thus introduced by Mr. Harrison, 
until now our public lands may be bought in 
tracts of but eighty acres each, and at the 
price of only one dollar and twenty-five cents 
per acre — whereas, but for the first blow at 
the old system struck by Mr. Harrison, and 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. . 47 

but for the wise and just principle first intro- 
duced by him, that exclusive system might 
perhaps still have continued — in which case 
v»^e feel assured of being within bounds in as- 
serting that the great valley of the Mississippi, 
the mighty empire of the West, w^ould not, at 
this day, have numbered one half the popula- 
tion, nor boasted a moiety of the wealth it 
now contains. 

In the year 1800, the North-western Terri- 
tory was divided. That part of the old terri- 
tory, included within the present boundaries 
of Ohio and Michigan, retained its former 
name; and the immense extent of country 
north-west of this, was erected into a separate 
government, and received the name of Indiana. 
Soon after this division had taken place, Mr. 
Harrison resigned his seat in Congress, and 
was appointed governor of the new territory. 
This appointment gave great satisfaction to 
the people of Indiana, with whom the patriotic 
exertions of Mr. Harrison had rendered him 
deservedly popular ; and it was, at the same 
time, the strongest evidence of the confidence 
with which the general government relied upon 
his integrity, prudence, and capacity for civil 
government 



48 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER IV. 

Condition of Indiana Territory. — Harrison is appointed 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs and Commissioner 
for treating- with the Indians. — His extensive juris- 
diction and powers. — Harrison's address to the terri- 
torial legislature. — The cession of Louisiana to the 
United States. 

The vast extent of this new territory in- 
cluded what now constitutes the states of In- 
diana, Illinois, and Michigan, and the territory 
of Wisconsin. But the small population it 
then contained was thinly scattered through 
a vast wilderness, and only three white set- 
tlements of any note existed within its bound- 
aries. One of these was at the seat of go- 
vernment, Vincennes, a small town originally 
built by the French, and beautifully and ad- 
vantageously situated on the banks of the 
Wabash ; the second, known as Clark's Grant, 
was at the Falls of the Ohio, nearly opposite 
Louisville, about one hundred miles from Vin- 
cennes ; and the third was the French settle- 
ment on the banks of the Mississippi, near St. 
Louis, and more than two hundred miles dis- 
tant from the seat of government. The com- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 49 

munication between these remote points was, 
at all times, difficult and toilsome, and often 
attended with great danger. There existed 
no practicable roads, and nearly all the inter- 
mediate country was occupied by the Indians, 
or overrun by their hunting parties. Most of 
these savage tribes, though professing to be 
friendly, w^ere restless and dissatisfied; and 
their leading chiefs still nursed a moody hope 
of revenge for the mortifying defeat they had 
sustained, six years before, at the battle of the 
Maumee Rapids. Artful and treacherous, nu- 
merous, warlike, and thirsting for plunder, they 
kept this remote frontier in continual excite- 
ment and alarm. The angry feeHngs of our 
hardy borderers were frequently roused by 
some robbery or atrocious aggression com- 
mitted by the more evil-disposed among their 
savage neighbours, and quarrels often ensued, 
which threatened the peace of the whole com- 
munity^ 

I Such was the existing state of things in In- 
diana Territory, when Mr. Harrison was 
appointed to the administration of its govern- 
ment. As governor of a frontier territory so 
peculiarly situated, Mr. Harrison was invested 
with civil powers of the most important na- 
5 



50 ' LIFE OF 

ture, as well as with military authority. Be- 
sides the ordinary powers which he held, ex- 
officio, as governor, he had the sole power of 
dividing the district into counties and town- 
ships ; and, with the aid of the judges, had full 
authority to adopt and pubUsh such laws, both 
civil and criminal, of the original states, as 
might be necessary and best adapted to the 
wants and situation of the district; and he 
had the appointment of all the magistrates 
and other civil officers. He was made com- 
mander-in-chief of the militia, and all the offi- 
cers below the rank of general received their 
commissions from him. He was likewise ap- 
pointed superintendent of Indian affiiirs, and 
agent and representative of the general govern- 
ment; in performance of the duties of which 
office, he was required to keep up a constant 
and voluminous correspondence with the Cabi- 
net at Washington. He had also the unusual 
powder of conferring on a numerous class of 
individuals, a legal title to large grants of land, 
on which they before held merely an equitable 
claim. His sole signature was sufficient, 
without any other formality, to give a valid 
title to these extensive and valuable tracts of 
land. No other formality or publicity was 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 51 

required, and whatever secret collusion might 
have existed betvi'een the claimant and the 
governor, the title would still have been un- 
questionable before any legal tribunal. Pos- 
sessed of this immense power, without check 
or hmitation, opportunities were continually 
before him of accumulating a princely for- 
tune; but the scrupulous sense of honour, 
which has always characterized Mr. Harri- 
son, would never permit him to speculate in 
lands over which he had any control. Dur- 
ing the whole of the time that he held this 
important trust, he never availed himself of 
his peculiar advantages to promote his own 
interests either directly or indirectly ; and it 
is a fact worthy of particular note, that, even 
to the present time, he has never owned a 
single acre of land, the title to which, origi- 
nally, emanated from himself as the repre- 
sentative of the government. No shadow of 
suspicion has ever clouded his honour, his 
honesty or disinterestedness ; and not a mur- 
mur ever accused him of partiaUty, or even 
of unnecessary delay, in the performance of 
this delicate duty. We allude to this to show 
that the integrity of Mr. Harrison is well-tried 
and practical ; and that it has always shone 



52 LIFE OF 

with the purest lustre when assailed by the 
strongest temptations. 

In 1803, Mr. Jefferson appointed Governor 
Harrison sole " commissioner to enter into 
any treaties which might be necessary with 
any Indian tribes, north-west of the Ohio, and 
within the territory of the United States, on 
the subject of their boundaries or lands." By 
virtue of this authority, in the following year, 
Harrison succeeded in negotiating a treaty 
with the Sacs and Foxes; and besides the 
amicable relations established with those 
tribes, he obtained the cession of an extensive 
tract of country, including the whole of the 
valuable region between the river Illinois and 
the Mississippi, w^ith a northern boundary, 
stretching from the head of Fox river to a 
point on the Wisconsin, thirty-six miles above 
its mouth. This was the largest cession of 
lands that had ever yet been made by the 
Indians at any one time. Considerable tracts 
of land between the Ohio and the Wabash, 
and extending from Vincennes westward to 
the Mississippi, were likewise purchased by 
annuities from the Delawares and the Mia- 
mies. We may herc appropriately remark 
that during the entire course of his adminis- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 53 

tration, Harrison effected thirteen important 
treaties with the different tribes, on the most 
advantageous terms ; and obtained from them, 
at various times, the cession of large tracts of 
land, amounting, in all, to more than sixty mil- 
lions of acres, and embracing a large portion 
of the richest region in our country. 

In their frequent intercourse with Governor 
Harrison, the Indians had learned to respect 
his undaunted firmness, and were, at the same 
time, conciliated by his kindness of manner 
and considerate forbearance. This, with his 
intimate knowledge of the Indian character, 
is the true secret of the remarkable success 
invariably attendant upon every treaty he has 
attempted to negotiate. 

The various and arduous duties of the go- 
vernor of Indiana, required for this ofhce a 
man' of very superior abilities and qualifica- 
tions, and of a rare temperament — one pos- 
sessed of a stern integrity and prudent 
moderation, with wisdom in the exercise of 
the extensive powers entrusted to him, ac- 
companied by the most unwavering firmness. 
Such a man Governor Harrison, in the long 
course of his administration, fully proved 

himself to be. The plainest evidence that can 

5* 



54 LIFE OF 

be presented to those who are not familiar 
with the history of Indiana, durins: this event- 
ful period, of the peculiar fitness of Governor 
Harrison for this important station, of the 
confidence reposed in him, and of the great 
popularity he attained while in the exercise 
of so delicate a trust, is the unquestionable 
fact, that, for thirteen years, at every succes- 
sive expiration of his term of office, he was 
re-appointed, at the earnest solicitation of the 
people of the Territory, and with the pubhc 
expression of the most flattering approbation 
on the part of our chief Executive. And this 
too, notwithstanding the entire change which 
had taken place within that time in the ruling 
politics of the country — his first appointment 
havinir been made by Mr. Adams, his second 
and third by Mr. Jefierson, and his fourth by 
Mr. Madison. The following extract from 
the resolution, unanimously passed by the 
House of Representatives of Indiana, in the 
year 1809, requesting the re-appointment of 
Governor Harrison, will show the estimate 
which a long acquaintance had taught them 
of his worth : " They (the House of Repre- 
sentatives) cannot forbear recommending to, 
and requesting of, the President and Senate, 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 55 

most earnestly in their own names, and in the 
names of their constituents, the re-appoint- 
ment of the present governor, WiUiam Henry 
Harrison, — because he possesses the good 
wishes and affection of a great majority of 
his fellow-citizens ; — because they believe him 
sincerely attached to the Union, the prosperity 
of the United States, and the administration 
of its government ; because they believe him 
in a superior degree capable of promoting the 
interest of our Territory, from long expe- 
rience and laborious attention to its concerns, 
from his influence over the Indians, and wise 
and disinterested management of that depart- 
ment ; aud because they have confidence in 
his virtues, talents, and republicanism." 

If necessary, we might fill a goodly volume 
with extracts from public documents of a 
similar nature ; but what stronger proof than 
this could we have of the popularity of Go- 
vernor Harrison, and of the entire confidence 
with which the people relied on his experi- 
ence, his integrity, and his ability as a states- 
man ? 

In 1805, the Territory of Indiana was ad- 
vanced to the second grade of government 
under the new system. The citizens were 



56 LIFE OF 

allowed to elect a Territorial House of As- 
sembly, by which ten persons were nominated, 
out of whom the president appointed five as a 
legislative council to complete the territorial 
legislature. This measure deprived Governor 
Harrison of much power and great patronage, 
since it threw into the hands of the people the 
election of many officers who were before 
appointed by the executive — but always a 
ready advocate for the republican rights of 
suffrage and self-government, he was true to 
his principles even when against his interest, 
and he strenuously urged this change of go- 
vernment. 

Nearly two years prior to this time, by a 
brilliant negotiation, a treaty had been effected 
in Paris, by which Louisiana was purchased 
by our government from France (to whom it 
had been ceded by Spain) for eighty millions 
of francs, or about fifteen millions of dollars ; 
and we were thus finally enabled to realize 
the boundaries of the ancient charters granted 
by the British monarchs to their American 
colonies, and extend the Hmits of the territory 
of the United States " from sea to sea." Upon 
our obtaining actual possession of Louisiana, 
the jurisdiction of Governor Harrison became 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 57 

greatly enlarged, and the responsibility and 
laborious duties of his station were conse- 
quently much increased. The governor refers 
to this annexation of Louisiana to the United 
States, in his address at the first session of the 
territorial legislature — a document so remark- 
able for its high-minded and purely republican 
spirit, and for its clearness and fluency of 
style, that notwithstanding our narrow limits 
we cannot refrain from laying some portions 
of it before our readers. 

"Upon a careful review of our situation," 
said Governor Harrison, " it will be found that 
we have much cause of felicitation, whether it 
respects our present enjoyments or our future 
prosperity. An enlightened and generous 
policy has for ever removed all cause of con- 
tention with our western neighbours. The 
migTity river which separates us from the 
Louisianians will never be stained with the 
blood of contending nations, but will prove the 
bond of our union, and will convey upon its 
bosom, in the course of many thousand miles, 
the produce of our great and united empire. 
The astonished traveller will behold upon 
either bank a people governed by the same 
laws, pursuing the same objects, and warmed 



68 LIFE OF 

with the same love of Hberty and science. 
And if, in the immense distance, a small point 
should present itself, where other laws and 
other manners prevail, the contrast it will af- 
-ford will serve the useful purpose of demon- 
strating the great superiority of a republican 
government, and how far the uncontrolled and 
unbiassed industry of freemen excels the cau- 
tious and measured exertions of the subjects 
of despotic power. 

" The acquisition of Louisiana will form an 
important epoch in the history of our country. 
It has secured the happiness of millions, who 
will bless the moment of their emancipation, 
and the generous pohcy which has secured to 
them the rights of men. To us it has pro- 
duced immediate and important advantages. 
We are no longer apprehensive of waging an 
eternal war with the numerous and warlike 
tribes of aborigines that surround us, and per- 
haps being reduced to the dreadful alternative 
of submitting to their depredations, or of ex- 
terminating them from the earth. 

" By cutting off their communication with 
every foreign power, and forcing them to pro- 
cure from ourselves the arms and ammunition, 
and such of the European manufactures as 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 59 

habit has to them rendered necessary, we 
have not only secured their entire dependence, 
but the means of ameliorating their condition, 
and of devoting to some useful and beneficial 
purpose the ardour and energy of mind which 
are now devoted to war and destruction. 
The policy of the United States, with regard 
to the savages within their territories, forms a 
striking contrast with the conduct of other civil- 
ized nations. The measures of the latter ap- 
pear to have been well calculated for the effect 
which has produced the entire extirpation of 
the unhappy people whose country they have 
usurped. It is in the United States alone that 
laws have been passed, not only for their 
safety and protection from every species of 
injury, but considerable sums of money have 
been appropriated, and agents employed, to 
humanize their minds, and instruct them in 
such arts of civilized life as they are capable 
of receiving. To provide a substitute for the 
chase, from which they derive their support, 
and which, from the extension of our settle- 
ments, is daily becoming more precarious, has 
been considered a sacred duty. The humane 
and benevolent intentions of the government, 
however, will for ever be defeated, unless ef- 



60 LIFE OF 

fectual measures be devised to prevent the 
sale of ardent spirits to those unhappy people. 
The law which has been passed by Congress 
for that purpose, has been found entirely inef- 
fectual, because its operation has been con- 
strued to relate to the Indian country exclu- 
sively. In calling your attention to this sub- 
ject, gentlemen, I am persuaded that it is 
unnecessary to remind you, that the article 
of compact makes it your duty to attend to it. 
The interests of vour constituents, the interests 
of the miserable Indians, and your own feel- 
ings, will sufficiently urge you to take it into 
your most serious consideration, and provide 
the remedy which is to save thousands of our 
fellow-creatures. So destructive has the pro- 
gress of intemperance been among them, that 
whole villages have been swept away. A 
miserable remnant is all that remains, to mark 
the names and situation of many numerous 
and warlike tribes. In the energetic language 
of one of their orators, it is a dreadful confla- 
gration, which spreads misery and desolation 
through their country, and threatens the anni- 
hilation of the whole race. Is it then to be 
admitted as a political axiom, that the neigh- 
bourhood of a civilized nation is incompatible 



WILLIAM PIENRY HARRISON. 61 

with the existence of savages ? Are the bless- 
ings of our republican government only to be 
felt by ourselves ? And are the natives of 
North America to experience the same fate 
with their brethren of the southern continent ? 
It is with you, gentlemen, to divert from those 
children of nature the ruin that hangs over 
them. Nor can I believe that the time will 
be considered misspent, which is devoted to 
an object so consistent with the spirit of Chris- 
tianity, and with the principles of republican- 



ism." 



The reply of the Territorial Assembly to 
this address, manifested the high estimation in 
which Governor Harrison was held ; and is 
one of the many proofs of his singular popu- 
larity, and of the entire confidence reposed in 
his abilities, and in his disinterestedness and 
moderation in the exercise of the extensive 
authority entrusted to him. 



6 



62 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER V. 

Intrigues of Tecumthc and the Prophet. — The Pro- 
phet's visit to Vincennes and interview with Harri- 
gon. — Treaty of Fort Wayne. — Dissatisfaction of 
Tecumthe. — Tecumthe's interview with the Gover- 
nor. — The Governor's firmness and intrepidity. — 
Harrison's Message to the Legislature. — Triumphant 
refutation of slander. 

In the following year, 1806, our friendly 
relations with the Indians were broken in 
upon, and the plans our government had form- 
ed to civilize them, and ameliorate their con- 
dition, were entirely destroyed by a new and 
very remarkable influence. 

Two twin brothers of- the Shawnee tribe, 
Tecumthe, the Crouching Panther, and 01-li- 
wa-chi-ca, the Open Door, generally known as 
the Prophet, commenced a series of artful and 
daring intrigues among the Indians on our 
north-western frontier, which finally involved 
them in a war with our country, destined to re- 
sult in the expulsion of many of these warlike 
tribes from all their old and favourite huntin'g- 
grounds. 

Tecumthe and his brother differed widely 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 63 

in character, but their separate accomplish- 
ments and their pecuhar quahfications well fit- 
ted them to prosecute the design they had 
formed. 

Tecumthe was a bold and skilful warrior, 
sagacious in council and formidable in battle. 
An active, daring, energetic man, but one who 
preferred tact and secret management to open 
violence. Deeply imbued with a hatred to the 
whites, against whom he had sworn an unre- 
lenting enmity, full of enthusiasm and highly 
gifted with eloquence, he appealed with great 
success to the passions of the Indians, in his 
endeavours to rouse them to a hostile feehng ^ 
against the United States. Tecumthe, never- 
theless, possessed a loftier spirit and a higher 
and better tone of feeling than is often found 
in the savage warrior ; and on several occa- 
sions during the ensuing war, he evinced a for- 
bearance and generosity which might well 
have put his more civilized allies to the blush. 

The Prophet had none of the nobler quali- 
ties of his brother. He was cunning, cruel, 
cowardly, and treacherous. He was no war- 
rior, but was an accompHshed and persuasive 
orator. A shrewd and crafty impostor, he an- 
nounced himself as a medicine man, or magi- 



64 LIFE OF 

cian, possessed of vast and miraculous pow- 
ers, and as having been specially sent by the 
Great Spirit to reform the condition of the red 
people, to restore them to their former pros- 
perity, and to replace them in the possession 
of their lost prairies and hunting-grounds. 

Availing himself of the superstition com- 
mon to all ignorant and uncivilized people, the 
Prophet commenced a series of wild incanta- 
tions, and, from time to time, uttered extrava- 
gant prophecies of the speedy downffill of the 
whites and the approaching success of the red 
men, until he succeeded in obtaininor so strono- 
a hold upon the credulity of the deluded In- 
dians, that his influence over the warriors of 
several powerful tribes became almost un- 
bounded. 

The object of these arch-intriguers was to 
form a general combination of all the North- 
western and South-western tribes of Indians, 
for the purpose of preventing the whites from 
extending any new settlements west of those 
already existing ; and with the vain hope, too, 
that by a simultaneous attack on the whole of 
our extensive, thinly-inhabited, and ill-defend- 
ed western frontier, they might force back the 
whites from the valley of the Mississippi, and 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 65 

regain a much-coveted portion of their former 
territory. This scheme is supposed to have 
been suggested to Tecumthe by the noted chief 
and warrior Red Jacket. It is the same plan 
which cost the celebrated Pontiac his life, and 
one which the no less distinguished Little Tur- 
tle is said to have cherished until the haughty 
spirit of the Indians was broken and subdued 
by their disheartening defeat at the Maumee 
Rapids. These designs of Tecumthe and his 
wily brother soon became known to Governor 
Harrison, who, aware of his dangerous and 
critical position, by prudent forbearance and 
wise policy, was enabled for several years to 
hold his savage neighbours in check. 

In the summer of 1808, the Prophet en- 
camped with his followers on the banks of the 
Tippecanoe, a tributary to the Upper Wabash ; 
with the design of being in the more immedi- 
ate neighbourhood of his most powerful par- 
tisans. 

About this time, our relations with Great 
Britain began to assume a threatening aspect, 
and war seemed almost inevitable. The Brit- 
ish emissaries and Canadians, anxious under 
these circumstances to secure the aid of the 
Indians, used every endeavour, by presents 
6* 



GQ LIFE OF 

and artful promises, to form strict alliances 
with all the powerful tribes, which they hoped 
to effect through the aid of the Prophet. 

The plans of the Prophet and his brother 
were not yet fully matured; and conscious 
that Governor Harrison suspected their hostile 
designs, this cunning impostor formed the au- 
dacious resolve to visit the governor, and en- 
deavour to deceive his vigilance and lull his 
suspicions to rest, by protestations of his ami- 
cable intentions. He accordingly made his 
appearance at Vincennes in the following 
month of August, and made such warm and 
apparently sincere professions of his friendly 
and peaceful purposes, as to leave rather a fa- 
vourable impression on all who listened to his 
assurances. But immediately after his return 
to Tippecanoe, he renewed his hostile intrigues 
with the neighbouring Indians, intelligence of 
which was soon conveyed to the governor. 

In September, 1809, Governor Harrison held 
a council at Fort Wayne, and negotiated a 
treaty with the Miamies, Delawares, Potawa- 
tomies, and Kickapoos, by which he succeed- 
ed in purchasing from those tribes an extensive 
tract of country on both sides of the Wabash, 
and extending up that river more than sixty 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 67 

. miles above Vincennes. The tribes who owned 
these lands were paid for them by certain an- 
nuities which they considered a satisfactory 
equivalent. 

Tecumthe was absent at this time on a visit 
to the distant tribes, and the Prophet not feel- 
ing himself interested, had made no opposition 
to the treaty ; but on the return of Tecumthe, 
some months after, both he and his brother ex- 
pressed great dissatisfaction, and even threat- 
ened to put to death all those chiefs who had 
signed the treaty. Hearing this, and anxious 
too to ascertain their intentions from them- 
selves, if possible, Governor Harrison dis- 
patched messengers to invite them both to 
Vincennes. He assured them that any claims 
they might have to the lands in question, were 
not affected by the treaty of Fort Wayne ; but 
that if they would come to Vincennes and 
exhibit their pretensions, and they should be 
found to be valid, the lands would be giv^n up 
or an ample compensation made for them, 
Tecumthe came, without his brother — and 
though the governor, having no confidence in 
his good faith, had requested him not to bring 
with him more than thirty warriors, he came 
with four hundred, completely armed. The 



68 LIFE OF 

governor held a council on the 12th of Au- 
gust, 1810, at which Tecumthe and forty of 
these warriors were present. The governor 
was attended by the judges of the supreme 
court, several officers of the army, Winne- 
mac, a friendly chief, and a few unarmed 
citizens. A sergeant's guard of twelve men 
was likewise placed near him, but as the day 
was exceeding sultry, and they were exposed 
to the sun, the governor, with his characteris- 
tic humanity, directed them to remove to a 
shaded spot at some distance. 

Tecumthe addressed this council with a- 
speech, in which he openly avowed the de- 
signs of himself and his brother. He declared 
it to be their intention to form a coalition of 
all the red men, to prevent the whites from 
extending their settlements farther west — and 
to establish the principle that the Indian lands 
belonged in common to all the tribes, and could 
not be sold without their united consent. He 
again avowed their intention to put to death 
all the chiefs who had signed the treaty at 
Fort Wayne, yet, with singular inconsistency, 
he at the same time denied all intention to 
make war, and declared that all those who 
had given such information to the governor 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 69 

were liars. This was aimed particularly at 
Winnemac, from whom the governor had 
received a timely notice of the designs of Te- 
cumthe and his brother. 

Go-vernor Harrison replied to Tecumthe in 
a mild and conciliatory tone, explaining the 
treaty at Fort Wayne, and clearly proving 
that all the chiefs whose tribes had any claims 
upon the lands ceded at this time to the United 
States, were present at the treaty, and had 
voluntarily signed it — and that they had sold 
these lands for an annuity which they consi- 
dered a sufficient compensation. The inter- 
preter of the Shawnees explained the govern- 
or's speech to the warriors of that tribe, but 
when the interpreter to the Potawatomies was 
about to begin, Tecumthe interrupted him in 
a rude and insulting manner, using the most 
vehement language and the most violent ges- 
ticulation. He loudly declared that all the 
governor had said was false, and that he and 
the United States had cheated and imposed 
upon the Indians. As he uttered this, his 
warriors sprung to their feet and began to 
brandish their tomahawks and war-clubs, their 
eyes all fiercely turned upon the governor. 
Harrison rose immediately and drew his 



70 LIFE OF 

sword. The friendly chief Winnemac cocked 
a pistol with which he was armed, and some 
of the officers in attendance drew their wea- 
pons and stood on the defensiA^e. Every one 
momentarily expected to hear the yell of the 
savage war-whoop, and to encounter the 
fierce attack of their excited opponents. At 
this critical time not a word was spokon, until 
the guard hastily approached, and were about 
to fire on the Indians, when the governor, 
with singular coolness and presence of mind, 
restrained them. He then turned to Tecum- 
the, and calmly but authoritatively told him 
that " he was a bad man — that he would hold 
no further communication with him — and that 
he must now return to his camp, and take his 
departure from the settlements without delay.'* 
The council was immediately broken up, and 
Tecumthe and his warriors, awed by the 
calmness and intrepidity of the governor, 
withdrew in silence. 

The next morning, Tecumthe, finding that 
he had to deal with a man of firmness and 
undaunted bravery, whom he could neither 
intimidate by his audacious violence nor dis- 
concert by his cunning manoeuvres, solicited 
another interview with the governor, and 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 71 

apologized for the improprieties he had com- 
mitted at the council the day before. 

At this interview, the governor expostulated 
with Tecumthe on the frequent murders com- 
mitted by the Indians at Tippecanoe, on their 
constant depredations, their refusal to give 
any satisfaction for their repeated aggressions, 
and their daily accumulation of force at the 
Prophet's town for the avowed purpose of 
obliging the United States to give up lands 
which they had fairly purchased of the right- 
ful owners. In his reply, Tecumthe denied 
that he had taken the murderers under his 
protection ; but admitted his design of forming 
a grand confederacy of all the nations and 
tribes of Indians upon the continent, for the 
purpose of putting a stop to the encroach- 
ments of the white people. He said that " the 
policy which the United States pursued, of 
purchasing their lands from the Indians, he 
viewed as a mighty water, ready to overflow 
his people ; and that the confederacy which 
he was forming among the tribes, to prevent 
any individual tribe from selling their lands 
without the consent of the others, was the dam 
he was erecting to resist this mighty water." 
And he added, "your great father may sit 



72 LIFE OF 

over the mountains and drink his wine, but if 
he continues this policy, you and I will have 
to fight it out." He admitted that he was 
then on his w^ay to the Creek nation, for the 
purpose of bringing them over to his measures ; 
and he actually did, two days afterwards, set 
out on this journey with twelve or fifteen 
warriors. 

Still anxious to conciliate this haughty 
savage, the governor afterwards paid him a 
visit at his own camp, with no other attend- 
ant than the interpreter. Tecumthe received 
him with courtesy and much attention ; Har- 
rison's uniform kindness and inflexible firm- 
ness having won the respect of the rude 
warrior : but he still persisted in adhering to 
the declarations he had made at the council 
on the preceding day. 

Meanwhile, his brother was using every 
exertion to advance their mutual object. His 
reputation as a prophet still continued to in- 
crease, and his cunning pretensions to super- 
natural powers gave him so strong a hold on 
the superstitions of his red brethren as to 
enable him not only to attach his own people 
warmly to his interests, but greatly to extend 
his influence over the neighbouring tribes. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 73 

Governor Harrison alludes to this in his mes- 
sage to the Legislature of Indiana, in the 
ensuing winter of 1810, from which the fol- 
lowing is an extract: 

" Presenting as we do," said Governor Har- 
rison, " a very extended frontier to numerous 
and warlike tribes of the aborigines, the state 
of our relations with them must always form 
an important and interesting feature in our 
local politics. It is with regret that I have to 
inform you, that the harmony and good under- 
standing which it is so much our interest to 
cultivate with these our neighbours, have, for 
some time past, experienced a considerable 
interruption, and that we have indeed been 
threatened with hostilities, by a combination 
formed under the auspices of a bold adven- 
turer, who pretended to act under the imme- 
diate inspiration of the Deity. His character 
as a prophet would not, however, have given 
him any dangerous influence, if he had not 
been assisted by the intrigues and advice of 
foreign agents, and other disaffected persons, 
who have for years omitted no opportunity of 
counteracting the measures of the government 
with regard to the Indians, and filling their 
naturally jealous minds with suspicions of the 
7 



74 LIFE OF 

justice and integrity of our views towards 

them." 

" The circumstance which was laid hold of 
to encourage disaffection, on a late occasion, 
was the treaty made by me at Fort Wayne 
in the autumn of the last year. Amongst the 
difficulties which were to be encountered, to 
obtain those extinguishments of title which 
have proved so beneficial to the treasury 
of the United States, and so necessary, as 
the means of increasing the population of the 
territory, the most formidable was that of 
ascertaining the tribes which were to be ad- 
mitted as parties to the treaties. The object 
was accordingly discussed in a long corres- 
pondence between the government and myself, 
and the principles which were finally adopted, ^ 
were made as liberal towards the Indians as 
a due regard to the interests of the United 
States would permit. Of the tribes which 
had formed the confederacy in the war which 
terminated by the peace of Greeneville, some 
were residents upon the lands which were in 
the possession of their forefathers, at the time 
that the first settlements were made in Ame- 
, rica by white people, whilst others were emi- 
grants from distant parts of the country, and 



WILLI A xM HENRY HARRISON. 75 

had no other claim to the tracts they occu- 
pied, than what a few years' residence, by 
the tacit consent of the real owners, could 
give. Upon common and general principles, 
the transfer of the title of the former descrip- 
tion would have been sufficient to vest in the 
purchaser the legal right to lands so situated. 
But in all its transactions with the Indians, 
our government have not been content with 
doing that which was just only. Its savage 
neighbours have, on all occasions, experienced 
its liberality and benevolence. Upon this 
principle, in several of the treaties which have 
been made, several tribes have been admitted 
to a participation of their benefits, who had no 
title to the land ceded, merely because they 
had been accustomed to hunt upon, and de- 
rive part of their support from them. For 
this reason, and to prevent the Miamies, who 
w^ere the real owners of the land, from expe- 
riencing any ill effects from their resentment, 
the Delawares, Potawatomies and Kickapoos 
were made parties to the late treaty at Fort 
Wayne. No other tribe was admitted, be- 
cause it never had been suggested that any 
other could plead even the title of use or oc- 



76 LIFE OF 

CLipancy of the lands, which at that time were 
conveyed to the United States. 

" It was not until eight months after the 
conclusion of the treaty, and after his design 
of forming a hostile combination against the 
United States had been discovered and de- 
feated, that the pretensions of the prophet, 
with regard to the lands in question, were 
made known. A furious clamour was then 
raised by the foreign agents among us, and 
other disaffected persons, against the policy 
which had excluded from the treaty this great 
and influential character as he is termed ; and 
the doing so, expressly attributed to persona! 
ill-will on the part of the negotiator. No such 
ill-will did in fact exist. I accuse myself, 
indeed, of an error, in the patronage and 
support which I afforded him upon his first 
arrival on the Wabash, before his hostility to 
the United States had been developed ; but 
on no principle of propriety or policy could 
he have been made a party to the treaty. 
The personage called the prophet is not a 
chief of the tribe to which he belongs, but an 
outcast from it, rejected and hated by the real 
chiefs, the principal of whom was present at 
the treaty, and not only disclaimed on the 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 77 

part of his tribe any title to the lands ceded, 
but used his personal influence with the chiefs 
of the other tribes to effect the cession, 

*' As soon as I was informed that his dis- 
satisfaction at the treaty was assigned as the 
cause of the hostile attitude which the prophet 
had assumed, I sent to inform him that what- 
ever claims he might have to the lands which 
had been purchased for the United States, 
were not in the least affected by that pur- 
chase ; that he might come forward and ex- 
hibit his pretensions, and if they were really 
found to be just or equitable, the lands would 
be restored, or an ample. equivalent given for 
them. His brother was deputed, and sent to 
me for that purpose ; but far from being able 
to show any colour of claim, either for him- 
self or any of his followers, his objections to 
the treaty were confined to the assertion, that 
all the lands upon the continent were the 
common property of all the tribes, and that 
no sale of any part of it could be valid, whh- 
out the consent of all. A proposition so ex- 
tremely absurd, and which would for ever 
prevent any further purchase of lands by the 
United States, could receive no countenance 
from any friend of his country. He had, 
7* 



78 LIFE OF 

however, the insolence to declare, that by the 
acknowledgment of that principle alone could 
the effects of his resentment be avoided." 

* * # «I have been thus particular, 
gentlemen, in giving you information upon 
the present state of affairs wdth the neighbour- 
ing Indians, that you may have them fully 
before you, in case you should think proper 
to make them in any shape the subject of 
your deliberations." 

In the course of this address, the whole of 
which we regret that the limited size of our 
volume will not permit us to quote. Governor 
Harrison alluded to some idle -complaints and 
malicious calumnies which had been spread 
~ abroad by certain disaffected persons within 
the Territory — the totally unfounded nature of 
which was soon made apparent in a court of 
justice. There are in every community, indi- 
viduals who are incapable of appreciating or 
are unwillin"^ to admit the existence of disin- 
terested and patriotic motives of action — and 
who, if they are too dull or perverse to com- 
prehend the wise policy and strict justice of 
any pubhc measure, are incHned by the whis- 
perings of their own hearts to attribute that 
iieasure to the promptings of base or unwor- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 79 

thy motives. It is not a matter of surprise, 
therefore, that some such were found in the 
territory over which Governor Harrison pre- 
sided. Among these was one M'Intosh, who 
openly asserted that Governor Harrison had 
cheated the Indians in the treaty at Fort 
Wayne, by which the United States had the 
year before obtained so large a cession of lands 
from the Miamies, Delawares, Potawatomies 
and Kickapoos. As this calumny was indus- 
triously circulated, Governor Harrison thought 
it due both to his own character and to that 
of the general government that the charge 
should be fully and judicially investigated, 
while the subject was still fresh and the testi- 
mony in relation to the treaty at Fort Wayne 
was still within reach. An action for slander 
was therefore brought against M'Intosh, in the 
Supreme Court of the Territory, and every 
possible measure was adopted to obtain a fair 
and an impartial decision. To insure this, two 
of the judges left the bench during the trial — 
one being a friend of the governor, and the 
other of the defendant — leaving the case to be 
adjudicated by the third judge, who had but 
recently arrived in the Territory and was but 
slightly acquainted, with either of the parties. 



80 LIFE OF 

All the facts connected with the negotiation 
of the treaty of Fort Wayne were critically 
inquired into, and the defendant was allowed 
every opportunity to examine all the persons 
engaged in the Indian Department, or who 
were acquainted with the circumstances at- 
tendant upon the making of this treaty. But 
the more the subject was inquired into, the 
more clearly did it manifest the strict honour 
and integrity of Governor Harrison ; until, at 
length, convinced of this, the counsel of M'ln- 
tosh abandoned all plea of justification, and 
asked only for a mitigation of damages. The 
jury returned a verdict of four thousand dol- 
lars against the defendant — a heavy verdict in 
a new" country, where money is always scarce, 
and damages given by juries in such cases are 
generally very small. A large amount of the 
defendant's property was sold the following 
year to satisfy this judgment, and was bought 
in by the agent of the governor, while he him- 
self was absent in command of the army. 
Two-thirds of this property Governor Harrison 
afterwards returned to JWIntosh, and the re- 
mainder he distributed among the orjjhan chil- 
dren of some of his gallant fellow-citizens icho 
fell in battle during the last ivar ! Such acts 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON 81 

need no comment — while magnanimity, disin- 
terestedness, c*nd generosity are prized among 
men, the tongue of praise even can scarcely 
do them justice. 



CHAPTER VL 

Commencement of hostilities. — Harrison assembles the 
Militia and Volunteers. — He organizes his forces. — 
March to the Prophet's town. — Battle of Tippeca- 
noe. — Its results. 

In the following year, 1811, the Indians pro- 
ceeded to more open violence, and assumed 
an attitude of more decided hostihty. It is 
beUeved that Tecumthe, on his departure to 
visit the Southern Indians, left positive instruc- 
tions with his brother to avoid coming to ex- 
tremities with the white people, and to restrain 
his followers from committing depredations 
which might lead to the commencement of 
hostilities before his plans were fully matured. 
But the Prophet wanted both the inclination 
and the authority necessary to carry these in- 
structions into effect. Aggressions of the most 
atrocious nature were audaciously committed 
by the Indians within the limits of the Terri- 



82 ^ LIFE OF 

tory, and every day brought fresh accounts of 
the perpetration of those ruthless deeds of de- 
predation and murder which always give the 
first intimation of the approach of a savage 
war. 

From motives of humanity as well as poli- 
cy, Governor Harrison had always endeavour- 
ed to avoid a war with the Indians ; hut when 
this result became unavoidable, he promptly 
adopted the most energetic measures within 
his limited resources to place the Territory in 
a posture of defence. 

The people upon the frontier had now be- 
come exceedingly alarmed. The citizens of 
Vincennes were much excited, and a large 
public meeting was there held, at which seve-- 
ral resolutions were passed indicating their 
sense of the danger to which they were ex- 
posed, and warmly approving the measures 
which had been taken by the governor for 
their defence. These resolutions, with a strong 
remonstrance against the permitting this horde 
of savages to continue their depredations, were 
forwarded to the President of the United States. 
They produced the desired effect — and the 4th 
regiment, commanded by Colonel Boyd, which 
was then at Pittsburgh, was ordered by Mr. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 83 

Madison to repair w itliout delay to Vincennes, 
and was placed under the command of Go- 
vernor Harrison. Instructions were likewise 
sent to the governor to march with an armed 
force to the Prophet's town — but he was re- 
quired to avoid hostilities " of any kind, or to 
any degree not absolutely necessary." 

The governor immediately assembled five 
hundred of the militia and volunteers of Indi- 
ana. These, with the regiment of United 
States' infantry, consisting of about three hun- 
dred and fifty men, and a small but gallant 
body of volunteers from Kentucky, constituted 
his whole available force — amounting in all to 
scarcely nine hundred effective men. These 
troops were collected at Fort Harrison, a post 
on the Wabash, about sixty miles above Vin- 
cennes. And as soon as his new soldiers were 
properly disciplined, and he had trained both 
the regulars and the mihtia to the Indian mode 
of warfare, he took up his hne of march for 
the Prophet's town. 

In the mean time, in conformity to his in- 
structions from the President, the governor 
had endeavoured, by the intervention of the 
Delaware and Miami chiefs who continued 
friendly, to open an amicable negotiation with 



84 LIFE OF 

the Indians, and induce them to give up the 
niurderers, who were known to be at Tippe- 
canoe, and to restore the stolen horses, that 
were still in the possession of his followers. 
But his messengers of peace were received 
and treated with great insolence, and the very 
reasonable demands made by them were re- 
jected with disdain by the Prophet and his 
council. To put an end to all hopes of ac- 
commodation, a small war-party was detached 
for the purpose of commencing hostilities. 
Finding no stragglers about the camp, they 
fired upon one of the sentinels, and w^ounded 
him severely. The Delaware chiefs informed 
the governor of the object of this party, and 
that it was now in vain to expect that any 
thing but force could obtain either satisfaction 
for the injuries done, or security for the future. 
He learned also from the same source, that the 
strength of the Prophet was daily increasing 
by the ardent and giddy young men from 
every tribe, and particularly from the tribes 
on and beyond the Illinois river. 

In this state of things, the governor marched 
from Fort Harrison on the 28th of October, 
1811. Profiting by his own early experience, 
and the remembered example of his old friend 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 85 

and commander, General Wayne, his march 
through a singularly wild and exposed region 
to Tippecanoe, was conducted with great skill 
and prudence. The country through which 
the army passed was occasionally open, beau- 
tiful prairie, intersected by thick w^oods, deep 
creeks, and ravines. The cavalry and mount- 
ed riflemen, of the latter of which there were 
two companies, covered the advance, the 
flanks, and the rear, and were made to ex- 
change positions with each other, as the ground 
varied ; so as always to keep them in the situ- 
ation best suited to the mode of fighting which 
they respectively practised. The Indians being 
adroit in the art of ambuscading, every pre- 
caution was taken to guard against surprise, 
and prevent the army from being attacked in 
a disadvantageous position. To the north of 
the Wabash, the prairies are very extensive, 
affording few favourable situations for the kind 
of warfare peculiar to the savages. To de- 
ceive the enemy, the governor caused the route 
to be reconnoitred on the south side, and a 
wagon-road hid out; and having advanced 
upon it a short distance, he suddenly changed 
his direction, and gained the right bank of the 
8 



86 ' LtFE OF 

river, by crossing it above the mouth of Ra- 
coon creek. In passing the large prairies, the 
army was frequently halted, and made collec- 
tively to perform the evolutions which they 
had been taught in smaller bodies, during their • 
stay at Fort Harrison; at which place the 
governor had manoeuvred the relieving guards 
every day in person, and had required the at- 
tendance of the field-officers on those occa- 
sions. 

As the Indian scouts had returned to their 
main body and given the information that our 
troops were making a road along the southern 
banks of the Wabash, they w^ere wholly un- 
prepared to meet them on the north side of 
the river, or to oppose their passage of Pine 
Creek, at a very dangerous ford, where a few 
men might have successfully resisted the whole 
army. The appearance of this creek forms a 
singular exception to the other water-courses 
of this country. It runs, for the distance of 
fifteen or twenty miles above its mouth, be- 
j tween immense cliffs of rock, upon whose 
summits are found considerable quantities of 
pine and red cedar, the former of which is 
rare, and the latter is nowhere else to be 
found near the Wabash. The ordinary cross- - 



WILLIAM HENRY PIARRISON. 87 

ing-place was represented by the guides to 
be extremely difficult, if not impassable for 
wagons ; and this was no doubt the spot 
where the Indians would have designed to 
make their attack, had they been prepared to 
meet the army here, instead of having been 
induced by the governor's feigned advance to 
gather their forces on the southern side of the 
river. This place had already been twice 
selected by the Indians for an ambush — once, 
in the year 1780, when General Clarke un- 
dertook a campaign against the Indians on 
the Wabash ; and a second time, in the year 
1790, when Colonel Hamtramack penetrated 
with a small force as high as the Vermilion, 
to make a diversion in favour of General 
Harmar's expedition to the Miami of the 
Lake. 

The governor had no intention of encoun- 
tering the enemy in a place like this. He 
accordingly, in the course of the night pre- 
ceding his approach to the creek, dispatched 
Captain Prince of the Indiana militia, with an 
escort of forty men, to reconnoitre the creek 
some miles above, and endeavour to find a 
better fording. On his return, the following 
morning, this oflicer met the army in its ad- 



88 LIFE OF 

vance, and informed the governor, that at the 
distance of six or eight miles, he had found a 
trace used by the IlUnois Indians in travelHng 
to Tippecanoe, which presented an excellent 
ford, at a place where the prairie skirted the 
creek. This prairie, which they were now 
crossing, excited the admiration and astonish- 
ment of the officers and soldiers, who had 
never been on the north-west side of the Wa- 
bash. To the north and west the prospect 
was unbounded. From the highest eminence 
no hmit was to be seen, and the guides as- 
serted that the prairie extended to the Illinois 
river. 

On the evening of the 5th of November, the 
army encamped at the distance of nine or ten 
miles from the Prophet's town. It was ascer- 
tained that the approach of the army had been 
discovered before it crossed Pine creek. The 
traces of reconnoitring parties were very 
often seen, but no Indians were discovered 
until the following day, when the troops ar- 
rived within five or six miles of the town. 
The interpreters were then placed with the 
advanced guard, to endeavour to open a com- 
munication with them. The Indians, how- 
ever, would return no answer to the invita- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 89 

tions that were made for that purpose, but 
continued to insult our troops by their ges- 
tures. Within about three miles of the town, 
the ground became broken by ravines, and 
covered with a heavy growth of trees. The 
utmost precaution became necessary, and 
every difficult pass was examined by the 
mounted riflemen, before the army was per- 
mitted to enter it. The ground being unfit 
for the operation of the squadron of dragoons, 
they were thrown in the rear. 

Within about two miles of the town, the 
path descended a steep hill, at the bottom of 
which was a small creek running through a 
narrow, wet prairie, and beyond this was a level 
plain partially covered with oak timber, and 
without underbrush. No place could be bet- 
ter fitted for the savages to attack the army 
with a prospect of success ; and the governor 
apprehended that the moment the troops de- 
scended into the hollow, they would be as- 
sailed. A disposition was therefore made of 
the infantry, to receive the enemy on the left 
and rear. A company of mounted riflemen 
was advanced a considerable distance from 
the left flank to check the approach of the 

Indians; and the other companies were or- 
8* 



90 LIFE OF 

dered to turn the enemy's flanks, should they 
attack from that direction. The dragoons 
were ordered to move rapidly from the rear 
and occupy the plain in advance of the creek, 
to cover the crossing of the army from an 
attack in front. In this order the troops were 
passed over; the dragoons w^ere made to ad- 
vance to give room to the infantry, and the 
latter having crossed the creek, were formed 
to receive the enemy in front in one line, with 
a reserve of three companies; the dragoons 
flanked by mounted riflemen forming the first 
line. 

During all this time, Indians were frequently 
seen in front and on the flanks. The inter- 
preters endeavoured in vain to bring them to 
a parley. Though sufficiently near to hear 
what was said to them, they would return no 
answer, but continued by gestures to menace 
and insult those who addressed them. Cap- 
tain Dubois, of Vincennes, having volunteered 
his services, was dispatched with an inter- 
preter, to the Prophet, to ascertain whether 
he would now comply with the terms that had 
been so often proposed to him. The army 
was moved slowly after, in order of battle. 
In a few moments, a messenger came from 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 91 

Captain Dubois, informing the governor that 
the Indians were near him in considerable 
numbers, that they would make no reply to 
the interpreter, but that, upon his advancing, 
they actually endeavoured to cut him off from 
the army. Governor Harrison, after this last 
effort to open a negotiation, which sufficiently 
evinced his desire for an amicable accom- 
modation, could no longer hesitate to treat 
the Indians as open enemies. He therefore 
recalled Captain Dubois, and moved on with 
a determination to attack them. He had 
not proceeded far, however, before he was 
met by a deputation of the Prophet's counsel- 
lors. They were sent, they said, to ascertain 
why the army was advancing upon them ; 
they stated that the Prophet wished, if possi- 
ble, to avoid hostilities ; that he had sent a 
pacific message by the Miami and Potawato- 
mie chiefs, who had come to him on the part 
of the governor, but that those chiefs had un- 
fortunately gone down on the south side of 
the Wabash. A suspension of hostilities was 
accordingly agreed upon, and a meeting w^as 
to take place the next day between the gover- 
nor and the chiefs, to agree upon the terms 
of peace. But Harrison knew too well the 



92 LIFE OF 

treachery of his artful antagonist, to allow 
himself to be deceived by his specious profesj- 
sions, or lulled into any fancied security. 

The governor marched the army to a care- 
fully selected position, and encamped Jate in 
tlie evening, on a dry piece of ground, which 
rose about ten feet above the level of a marshy 
prairie in front towards -the town, and about 
twice as high above a similar prairie in the 
rear, through which, near the bank,~ ran a 
small stream, fringed with willows and brush- 
wood. The governor posted his troops in a 
hollow square. Two columns of infantry oc- 
cupied the front and rear ; the right flank 
consisted of a strong body of infantry, and the 
left flank was composed of three companies 
of mounted riflemen. The cavalry were en- 
camped in the rear of the front rank and the 
left flank. The encampment was not more 
than three-fourths of a mile from the town. 

The order given to the army, in the event 
of a night attack, was for each corps to main- 
tain its ground at all hazards till relieved. 
The dragoons were directed, in such a case, 
to parade dismounted, with their swords on 
and their pistols in their belts, and to await 
for orders. But the army* in general had no 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, 93 

expectation of an attack. Many of the men 
appeared to be much disappointed. They 
were anxious for a contest with the Indians, 
and some of the more ardent loudly expressed 
their regret that they should have to return 
home without a battle. 

The night was dark and cloudy. The moon 
rose late, and soon after midnight there com- 
menced a Hght fall of drizzling rain. The 
whole night passed without the slightest inter- 
ruption, and the governor and his aids rose at 
about a quarter, before four, and were sitting 
in conversation about the fire. It was still 
dark, as the light of the moon was shadowed 
by heavy and lowering clouds. , At this mo- 
ment the attack commenced. The treacher- 
ous Indians had stealthily crept up near our 
sentries, with the intention of rushing upon 
them and kiUing them before they could give 
the alarm. But fortunately one of the sentries 
discovered an Indian creeping towards him 
through the grass, and fired at him. This 
was immediately followed by the Indian yell, 
and a furious charge upon the left flank. So 
sudden and fierce was this onset, that the 
guard stationed in that quarter gave way, at 
first, to their savage assailants ; but notwith- 



94 LIFE OF 

standing the severe fire, they soon rallied, and 
maintained their ground with desperate va- 
lour. The camp-fires were immediately ex- 
tinguished, as their light only served to expose 
our men to the deadly aim of the Indians. 
Upon the first alarm, the governor mounted 
his horse, and proceeded to the point of at- 
tack; and finding the line much weakened 
there, he ordered two companies from the 
centre and rear line to march up to their sup- 
port. About this time, Colonel Joseph Ha- 
milton Daviess, of Kentuckv, informed the 
governor that the Indians, concealed behind 
some trees near the left of the front line, were 
severely annoying the troops in that quarter, 
and requested permission to dislodge them. 
In attempting this hazardous exploit, he charged 
the Indians on foot, but unfortunately the 
flash of his pistol exposed him to the deadly 
aim of the savages, and he was shot down 
almost instantly, pierced with three balls, 
either of which would have proved fatal — and 
thus fell a gallant and chivalric spirit, and one 
of the most daring and intrepid officers in the 
whole army. His men repulsed the Indians 
several times, and finally succeeded in carry- 
ing him into the camp. Colonel Isaac White, 



WILLTAIM HENRY HARRISON. 95 

of Indiana, another brave officer, w ho served 
as a volunteer under Colonel Daviess, like- 
wise fell in this sanguinary charge. A heavy 
fire now commenced upon the right flank, 
upon a part of the rear line, and upon the 
entire front as well as upon the left flank. 
Finding that many of our officers were killed 
by the severe fire on the right flank, and that 
our men there were warmly pressed, the go- 
vernor led another company to their aid, 
which enabled them to defend their position 
during the rest of the attack. While the go- 
vernor was leading this company into action, 
his gallant aid. Colonel Owen, of Kentucky, a 
veteran warrior in Indian warfare, was killed 
at his side. 

The battle was now maintained in every di- 
rection with desperate valour. The Indians 
advanced and retreated by a rattling noise 
made with deer-hoofs. They fought with great 
enthusiasm, and seemed determined to con- 
quer. Our men maintained the fight with even 
more than their accustomed bravery, and the 
governor was unwearied in his active exer- 
tions. Amid all the din of battle, the fierce 
shouting of our troops, and the fiend-like yell- 
ings of the savages, his clear and manly voice 



96 LIFE OF 

was heard encouraging and supporting his men 
where they were most severely pressed, and 
cheering them on to victory. He repeatedly, 
during the engagement, changed their position 
to meet the varying attacks of his desperate 
assailants, and in all these evolutions the troops 
were formed and led into action by himself. 

When the day dawned, the left flank, the 
most assailable part of the encampment, was 
reinforced by four companies drawn from the 
rear and centre ; the right flank was strength- 
ened by two companies ; the dragoons were 
mounted, and, supported by them, a simulta- 
neous charge was made upon the enemy on 
both flanks. And so vigorous and determined 
was this attack, that the enemy gave way on 
all sides — the Indians on the left flank were 
driven into a swamp impenetrable to cavalry, 
while those on the right were put to flight with 
great loss, and this severely-contested victory 
was at last gained by our gallant troops. 

The Indians, who were supposed to amount 
to about a thousand in number, were com- 
manded in this battle by three noted warriors 
— White LooUf Stone Eater , and Winnemac^ 
a Potawatomie chief, who had been with the 



WILLIAM HENIIY HARRISON. 97 

governor at Fort Harrison, and on his march, 
making great professions of friendship. 

More than two-thirds of our army were 
volunteers, principally from Indiana. Those 
from the neighbourhood of Vincennes had been 
trained for several years by the governor, and 
had become very expert in the manoeuvres 
which he had adopted for fighting the Indians. 
The greater part of the territorial troops fol- 
lowed him as well from personal attachment 
as from a sense of duty. Indeed, a greater 
degree of confidence and personal attachment 
has rarely been found in any army towards 
its commander, than existed in this ; nor have 
there been many battles in which the depend- 
ence of the army on its leader was more dis- 
tinctly felt. During the whole action the go- 
vernor was constantly on the lines, and always 
repaired to the point which was most hardly 
pressed. The reinforcements drawn occa- 
sionally from the positions most secure, were 
conducted by himself and formed on the spot 
where their services were most wanted. The 
officers and men who believed that their ulti- 
mate success depended on his safety, warmly 
remonstrated against his so constantly expos- 
ing himself; but, the consciousness of his per- 
9 



98 LIFE OF 

sonal danger never interfered, for a moment, 
with the unshrinking performance of his duty. 
Upon one occasion, as he was approaching an 
ansjle of the Hne aa^ainst which the Winneba- 
goes, the most daring of the Indians, were ad- 
vancing with the fiercest yells, one of his offi- 
cers seized the bridle of his horse and earnest- 
ly entreated that he would not go there ; but 
the governor, freely applying his spurs, push- 
ed on to the point of attack, and so cheered 
the troops by his presence that they received 
the enemy with firmness and drove them back 
with the loss of several of their chiefs. 

The Prophet took no active part in this bat- 
tle, but during the whole of the contest he re- 
mained secure on a neighbouring eminence, 
chanting a war-song. He had promised his 
warriors that " the Great Spirit would turn 
the powder of the whites into ashes, and charm 
their bullets, so that they should drop harm- 
less, and that the red men should have light, 
while their enemies were involved in utter 
darkness." Soon after the battle commenced, 
he was told that his warriors were falling in 
great numbers, but he bade them fight on, and 
they would soon see the fulfilment of all his 
predictions. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 99 

The day of the battle was spent in taking 
care of the wounded, and in paying the last 
mournful rites to the remains of those who 
had fallen. On the next day, the town, which 
had been abandoned by the Indians in great 
haste, was occupied by a detachment of our 
troops ; and after the removal of every thing 
of value, its fortifications were destroyed and 
the town itself burnt. On the same day the 
troops were put in motion on their homeward 
march. Every wagon was required to trans- 
port the wounded, and it therefore became 
requisite to destroy all the unnecessary bag- 
gage ; in doing which, the governor set the 
example, by ordering all his own camp furni- 
ture to be broken and burnt first. They pur- 
sued their route by easy marches, till they 
arrived, without interruption, at their block- 
house on the Wabash ; where the wounded 
were embarked in boats, while the rest of the 
army continued their march by land to Vin- 
cennes. 

The battle of Tippecanoe was unquestiona- 
bly one of the most spirited and best-fought 
actions recorded in the annals of our Indian 
wars. The numbers and weapons on either 
side were nearly equal ; and the Indians, con- 



100 LIFE OF 

trary to their usual custom, fought hand to 
hand, and with the most desperate ferocity; 
displaying a boldness and reckless daring, dur- 
ing the engagement, that can only be account- 
ed for by their reliance on the specious pro- 
mises held out to them by the Prophet. Every 
man in this battle encountered his share of 
danger, but no one was in more personal peril 
than Governor Harrison himself — well known 
to many of the Indians, and the object of their 
peculiar attack, his fearless and unshrinking 
exposure makes it seem almost a miracle that 
he should have escaped unwounded. In re- 
ferring to the coolness and intrepidity of Go- 
vernor Harrison, on this occasion, we cannot' 
refrain from making the following extracts 
from a journal published in Keene, New Hamp- 
shire, by Adam Walker, a private soldier, who 
fought in this battle, and who could have had 
no interested motives for his publication: — 
*' General Harrison," he says, " received a shot 
through the rim of his hat. In the heat of the 
action, his voice was frequently heard, and 
easily distinguished, giving his orders in the 
same calm, cool, and collected manner, with 
which w^e had been used to receive them on 
drill or parade. The confidence of the troops 



* WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 101 

in the General was unlimited." The same 
writer, in speaking of Harrison's kindness to 
the soldiers, and his influence over them, re- 
marks : — " He appeared not disposed to detain 
any man against his inclination ; being en- 
dowed by nature with a heart as humane as 
brave, in his frequent addresses to the militia, 
his eloquence was formed to persuade; appeals 
were made to reason as well as feeling, and 
never were they made in vain." 

An incident that occurred at this time ap- 
pears well worthy of being recorded. The 
night before the battle, a negro man belonging 
to the camp, who had been missing, was ar- 
rested under the governor's marquee, under 
very suspicious circumstances. He was tried 
by a court-martial for desertion to the enemy, 
and for an attempt to assassinate the governor. 
Sufficient evidence was found to convict him, 
and he was sentenced to death ; yet such were 
the humane feelings of Harrison, that he could 
not induce himself to sign the order for his 
execution. As the criminal attempt had been 
made against his own life, he felt himself pri- 
vileged to exercise his benevolence towards 
the offender, and the misguided wretch was 
suffered to escape the just punishment of his 
9* 



102 LIFE OF 

crime. It would have been more in accord- 
ance with the principles of strict justice, had 
the law been permitted to take its own course 
in this instance — but the circumstances of the 
case were very peculiar, and Governor Har- 
rison's conduct evinced a magnanimity and 
humanity of heart rarely equalled. . 

The importance of the victory at Tippeca- 
noe cannot be too highly estimated. It quelled 
the haughty spirit of the discontented and hos- 
tile Indians, and defeated the plan, which they 
had almost matured, of attacking and destroy- 
ing our scattered border settlements in detail. 
Had we lost this battle, our army must have 
been annihilated — the whole extent of our de- 
fenceless frontier would have been left to the 
mercy of sanguinary and unsparing savages, 
and the consequent loss of life, and destruction 
of property, would have been almost incalcu- 
lable. 

President Madison, in his message to Con- 
gress, dated December 18th, 1812, makes the 
following honourable mention of this battle: — 
"While it is deeply to be lamented," says the 
President, "that so many valuable lives have 
been lost in the action which took place on the 
9th ult., Congress will see, with satisfaction, 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 103 

the dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously 
displayed by every description of troops en- 
gaged, as well as the collected firmness which 
distinguished their commander, on an occasion 
requiring the utmost exertion of valour and 
discipline." 

The Legislature of Kentucky, at their en- 
suing session, on the motion of John J. Crit- 
tenden, now a distinguished member of the 
United States Senate, expressed their high 
sense of Governor Harrison's good conduct 
on this occasion, by the following compliment- 
ary resolution : — 

"Resolved, That in the late campaign 
against the Indians, on the Wabash, Governor 
W. H. Harrison has, in the opinion of this le- 
gislature, behaved like a hero, a patriot, and a 
general ; and that for his cool, deliberate, skil- 
ful, and gallant conduct, in the late battle of 
Tippecanoe, he deserves the w^armest thanks 
of the nation." 

This high encomium came from those whose 
friends and neighbours had participated in the 
late campaign, and who were consequently 
familiar with all its details, and with the merits 
of the commander-in-chief. 

Tecumthe was not present at the battle of 



104 LIFE OF 

Tippecanoe ; being on a visit to the southern 
tribes, whom he was endeavouring to unite 
in his combination against the United States. 
During his tour, he visited the Creeks, Choc- 
taws, and Chickasaws, and then crossed the 
Mississippi and continued his course north- 
w^ardly as high as the river Demoins ; and 
having obtained, it is behoved, the promise of 
assistance from all the tribes in that direction, 
he returned to the Wabash by land, across 
the heads of the Illinois river. In his absence, 
his affairs had sustained a sad reverse. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Declaration of War with Great Britain. — Measures 
adopted to defend our North-western frontier. — 
Governor Harrison is appointed Major General in the 
Kentucky militia. — He receives the commission of 
Brigadier General in the service of the United 
States. — He is made Commander-in-chief of the 
North-western army. — His extensive powers and ar- 
duous duties. — Plan of the Campaign. — Massacre 
at the River Raisin. — Expedition against the Indian 
towns. 

War was declared against Great Britain on 
the 18th of June, 1812. Prior to this event, 
British agents had, for a long time, been tarn- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 105 

pering with the discontented Indians within 
our territory, and had bribed them with pre- 
sents, and furnished them with firearms, to 
induce them to renew their hostilities against 
our country. The crafty and daring Tecum- 
the, too, was once more in the field. Urged 
on by his savage eloquence, by their own 
natural love for war and plunder, and by the 
atrocious intrigues of foreign agents, the 
north-western Indians again raised the war- 
whoop, and commenced their barbarous sys- 
tem of warfare. Their cruel murders and 
depredations became of frequent occurrence, 
and the wailings of bereaved mothers and or- 
phians, and the bitter complaints of those who 
had escaped from the conflagration of their 
plundered homes, excited the commiseration 
of our hardy borderers, and roused a general 
feeling of indignation. Such was the state 
of excitement in the frontier settlements in the 
summer of 1812. 

Immediately after the declaration of war, 
our western governors promptly adopted 
every measure in their power, for the defence 
of their respective States and Territories. 
But conscious of the great abilities and expe- 
rience of Harrison, they placed the utmost 



106 LIFE OF 

reliance on his counsels, and looked to him as 
the leader, under whom they might hope for 
success against the common enemy. He 
aided Governor Edwards in placing the fron- 
tier of Illinois in a posture of defence, and 
soon after, was invited by Governor Scott 
of Kentucky, a distinguished revolutionary 
officer, to a conference in relation to the 
Kentucky troops, which had been raised for , 
the defence of the frontier. He accepted this 
invitation, and met Governor Scott at Frank- 
fort ; where he was received with the accla- 
mations of the people, and with the highest 
civil and military honours. These public 
marks of the high estimation in which Harri- 
son was held by the people, were shortly 
after followed by proofs still more flattering of 
their confidence in his patriotism, his abilities, 
and his military skill. 

Governor Scott had levied an armed force 
of more than five thousand militia and volun- 
teers, commanded by some of the ablest men 
and most experienced officers in the State. 
Two thousand of these troops were ordered 
for immediate service ; and they had no 
sooner learned that they were destined to 
march to the aid of their fellow-countrymen 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 107 

on the frontier, than they at once unani- 
mously expressed the most earnest desire to 
be placed under the command of Governor 
Harrison. This feehng was responded to by 
the wishes of the whole mass of the people 
throuf^hout the State. The laws of Ken- 
tucky, however, would not permit any other 
than a citizen to hold a command in the State 
militia. In this dilemma. Governor Scott 
consulted with the venerable Shelby, (the 
governor elect), the Hon. Henry Clay, and 
other distinguished citizens of the state, and 
by their unanimous advice he gave Harrison 
a brevet commission of major general in the 
Kentucky militia, with express authority to 
take command of the gallant troops, about to 
march to the frontier. This was a bold and 
unprecedented measure, but one that gave 
unbounded satisfaction to both soldiers and 
citizens, and one fully warranted by the pe- 
culiar exigencies of the case. These facts 
speak volumes in favour of the remarkable 
popularity and great military reputation which 
Governor Harrison enjoyed in a population 
of brave and chivalric people, boasting an un- 
usual proportion of highly-gifted and distin- 
guished men. 



108 LIFE OF 

About this time, the cowardice and imbc- 
cihty of General Hull tamely surrendered to 
the British the important post of Detroit, with 
the gallant force which composed its garrison. 
This event spread consternation, far and wide, 
through the western country, and greatly in- 
creased the difficulty and arduous nature of 
Governor Harrison's duties. He immediately, 
however, organized the brave troops under 
his command, and commenced a course of 
rigid discipline and mihtary training; with 
the confident hope of retrieving the disasters 
consequent upon the cowardly surrender of 
Detroit. 

But his operations were soon interrupted by 
the receipt of official letters from the War De- 
partment, written in ignorance of the surren- 
der of Hull and of the proceedings in Kentucky, 
and appointing General Winchester to take 
conimand of the forces marching to Detroit. 
Governor Harrison was, at the same time, ap- 
pointed Brigadier General in the service of the 
United States — but he declined to accept this 
appointment, being desirous that the War De- 
partment should first be made aware of the 
arrangements by which he had received the 
command of the Kentucky troops. Mean- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 109 

while, the armv had marched to the north- 
western frontier of Ohio ; and Governor Har- 
rison, having reUeved Fort Wayne, which had 
been besieged by the enemy, and having de- 
stroyed the Indian towns on the Elkhart and 
the Wabash, resigned the command to Win- 
chester, with the intention of returning to In- 
diana, and resuming the duties of his territorial 
government. 

General Winchester, who had thus taken 
the chief command, was an old revolutionary 
soldier, and a brave and meritorious officer; 
but being less known and less distinguished, 
he was not, like Harrison, possessed of the en- 
thusiastic confidence of the army. Governor 
Harrison, nevertheless, exerted every effort in. 
his power to reconcile the troops to this change- 
But soon after he left them, their displeasure 
at having been deprived of their favourite 
commander was not confined to murmurs, but 
created open disaffection and almost mutiny. 
The volunteers, especially, were loud in their 
complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction 
at the change of commanders — and the troops 
were at last induced to continue their march,, 
solely by the belief that as soon as the case- 
was rightly understood at Washington, the 
10 



110 LIFE OF 

command would be restored to Governor Har- 
rison. 

This expectation was speedily realized— 
for no sooner was the President made aware 
of the condition of the army, and of the al- 
most unanimous wishes of the western people, 
than he immediately appointed Harrison in 
place of Winchester, commander-in-chief of 
the north-western army. The dispatch con- 
veying this appointment, overtook him on his 
way to Indiana, and, with a small escort, he 
returned, without delay, to the army. 

He arrived at the encampment late at night, 
but at a very critical moment. A revolt had 
that day taken place in one of the regiments 
of Kentucky volunteers, commanded by Colo- 
nel Allen, the result of which forcibly evinced 
the powerful influence General Harrison pos- 
sessed over the army. He had scarcely ar- 
rived, when he was waited upon by Colonel 
Allen and his second in command, who bore 
him the mortifying intelligence that their men, 
exhausted by the hard fare of the campaign, 
and disappointed in their expectation of an 
immediate engagement with the enemy, had, 
in defiance of their duty to their country, and 
all the earnest and impassioned remonstrances 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 1 1 1 

of their officers, determined to return home. 
They assured General Harrison that their ap- 
peals and representations were answered by- 
insult, and they entreated his instant interfer- 
ence as the only means of bringing the muti- 
neers back to their duty. 

The general declined taking any step that 
night, but gave orders that the next morning 
the alarm signal should be beat instead of the 
reveille. This adroit expedient brought all the 
troops to their arms, and they were formed as 
usual in a hollow square. General Harrison 
then made his appearance on parade, much to 
the surprise of the troops, who, from his late 
arrival in camp, had not been aware of his 
presence. 

With a ready eloquence, he immediately 
addressed them on the subject of the cam- 
paign, and referred to the disaffection that ex- 
isted in one of the Kentucky regiments. " It 
was fortunate," he said, " that this discontent 
had been found out before the campaign was 
further advanced, when the discovery might 
have been mischievous to the public interests, 
as well as disgraceful to the parties concern- 
ed. Now, so far as the government was in- 
terested, the discontented troops, who had 



112 LIFE OF 

come into the woods with the expectation of 
finding all the luxuries of home and of peace, 
had full liberty to return. He would," he con- 
tinued, "order facihties to be furnished for 
their immediate accommodation. But he 
could not refrain from expressing the mortifi- 
cation he anticipated for the reception they 
would meet from the young and the old, who 
had greeted them as their gallant neighbours 
on their march to the scene of war. 

" What must be their feelings," said the 
general, " to see those whom they had hailed 
as their generous defenders, now returning 
without striking a blow, and before their term 
of plighted service had expired? But if this 
would be the state of public sentiment in Ohio, 
what would it be in Kentucky? If their fa- 
thers did not drive their degenerate sons back 
to the field of battle to recover their wounded 
honour, their mothers and sisters would hiss , 
them from their presence. If, however, the 
discontented men were disposed to put up with 
all the taunts and disdain which awaited them 
wherever they went, they were," General 
Harrison again assured them, " at full liberty 
to go back." 

The influence of this manly and exciting 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. j 13 

address was instantaneous. Colonel Scott, the 
senior colonel of Kentucky, a war-worn vete- 
ran who had served in the armies of Harmar, 
St. Clair, and Wayne, immediately faced his 
regiment, and said to them, — " You, my boys, 
w411 prove your attachment to the service of 
your country, and to your general, by giving 
three cheers." The air instantly resounded 
with the shouts of both officers and men. The 
regiment of Colonel Lewis replied in the same 
manner to a similar request from their com- 
mander ; and when, at last. Colonel Allen ad- 
dressed the soldiers of his regiment in a forci- 
ble appeal to their patriotism and returning 
sense of duty, they, too, responded with the 
same cheering shouts — and none of the troops 
behaved more faithfully and gallantly than these 
during the remainder of their term of service. 
The powers conferred on Harrison, as com- 
mander-in-chief of the North-western army, 
were of great extent, and he was left to exer- 
cise them according to his own unrestricted 
judgment. In the dispatch containing this ap- 
pointment, dated September 17th, 1812, the 
Secretary of War says : — " You will com- 
mand such means as may be practicable — ex- 
ercise your own discretion, and act in all cases 
10* 



114 LIFE OF 

according to your own judgment," — thus con- 
ferring upon him extraordinary and almost 
unlimited powers. We refer to this, merely 
that W8 may here notice the remarkable fact, 
that, though vested with unusual powers, Gene- 
ral Harrison was never known, during the 
whole of his command, to exercise his author- 
ity in an unjust or oppressive manner. His 
measures were energetic, but always qualified 
by his characteristic moderation and human- 
ity, and by a due regard for the feelings of 
every soldier in his camp. 

This appointment, it should be remembered, 
too, was not obtained by General Harrison by 
any party or personal influence, but was con- 
ferred upon him in compliance with the almost 
unanimous wishes of the western peopJe ; and 
by a President, who, when Secretary of State 
under Jefferson, had been in constant corre- 
spondence with him in relation to the territo- 
rial affairs of Indiana, and had thus enjoyed 
an ample opportunity of forming a fair esti- 
mate of his abilities and qualifications. 

The duties that devolved on General Har- 
rison, in his new station, were arduous beyond 
description. The troops under his command, 
though brave, were either volunteers for a 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 115 

limited period of time, or inexperienced and 
undisciplined recruits ; and the army was 
badly equipped, and nearly destitute of bag- 
gage and military stores. The enemy to which 
he was opposed were tried and disciplined 
British troops, well supplied with every muni- 
tion of war, and assisted by a powerful body 
of Indians under the command of a warrior 
distinguished for his great sagacity, energy, 
and daring bravery. With these inadequate 
means, under these unfivourable circum- 
stances, and with such formidable opponents, 
he was required to defend an immense extent 
of frontier, stretching along the shores of the 
great northern lakes, whose numerous har- 
bours and rivers were easy of access to an 
enemy, possessed of a fleet sufficiently large 
to command these waters, and to transport 
their troops in any direction. In addition to 
this, the roads leading to those points which 
most required defence, were nearly impassa- 
ble, and lay, for hundreds of miles, through a 
wilderness swarming with hostile Indians, 
and through gloomy and dangerous swamps, 
where the troops, though little encumbered 
with baggage, could advance but slowly, and 
with great labour. But under all these diffi- 



116 LIFE OF 

culties, the spirits of the soldiers were sus- 
tained by the presence and example of their 
favourite commander — who animated them 
in their fatigues, and cheerfully endured the 
same hardships and privations which they 
encountered. 

The published accounts of our recent war 
with the Seminoles in Florida, the disastrous 
details of which have been made but too 
familiar to us, will convey to our readers 
some idea of the peculiar dangers and diffi- 
culties of this campaign, and of the skill and 
fortitude required to overcome them. In 
both cases, we were opposed by the same 
savage foe, and the country was almost inac- 
cessible from the same causes — its finhealthful- 
ness at that season of the year, and its exten- 
sive and treacherous swamps, the passes 
through which were known only to the 
hostile Indians by whom they were occupied, 
with perhaps, in the two cases, but this differ- 
ence only, that the northern Indians are well 
known to be much fiercer and more formida- 
ble warriors than their southern brethren, and 
that, during the whole of this campaign, they 
were kept constantly supplied, by the British, 
with more effective arms and ammunition. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 117 

Yet, undismayed by these dangers and ob- 
stacles, General Harrison, wishing to strike 
an early blow at the enemy, formed the bold 
and daring design of a winter campaign — 
hoping, by a rapid and unexpected move- 
ment, to re-capture Detroit, take Maiden, and 
perhaps overrun the greater part of Upper 
Canada. To lessen the difficulty of collecting 
the necessary supply of provisions and forage, 
and to form the requisite depots, he stationed 
the several corps of his army, at three differ- 
ent points. The left wing, consisting princi- 
pally of Kentuckians, under the command of 
General Winchester, he posted at Fort Defi- 
ance — the centre, composed of Ohio troops 
under the command of General Tupper, he 
stationed at Fort McArthur — and the right 
wing, consisting of the Pennsylvania and Vir- 
ginia brigades, was under his own immediate 
command, at Upper Sandusky. After accu- 
mulating supplies of provisions and military 
stores at these several points, the army was 
to take up the line of march by three different 
routes. The left wing was to descend the 
river from Fort Defiance, the centre to ad- 
vance along Hull's Trace, the right wing was 
to cross the Black Swamp by a difficult and 



118 LIFE OF 

dangerous route, and the three corps were to 
meet and concentrate the entire forces of the 
arm}^ at the Rapids of the Maumee, near 
Wayne's old battle-ground. 

Having made all the arrangements, the 
general used every effort to hasten the neces- 
sary supplies, and meanwhile kept the troops 
constantly and laboriously employed in build- 
ing forts, forming depots, and cutting roads to 
facilate his future operations. 

The centre and right wing of the army, not 
being far removed from our settlements, were 
able to collect provisions with comparative 
ease ; but the left wing, stationed at a more 
remote distance, found great difficulty in ob- 
taining a sufficient supply even for their own 
immediate subsistence. Under these circum- 
stances, and ascertaining that he could pro- 
cure forage in abundance at the Rapids, 
General Winchester, having received the 
instructions of General Harrison, determined 
to move his forces down the Maumee to the 
appointed place of concentration, without 
waiting for the co-operation of the centre and 
right wing of the army. He accordingly, on 
the 30th of December, took up his hne of 
march for the Rapids. On the same day, a 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 119 

gallant young volunteer from Kentucky (Mr. 
Leslie Combs), was sent with a dispatch to 
apprise General Harrison of this movement. 
On the day after Mr. Combs had set out with 
this dispatch, a heavy rain fell, followed im- 
mediately by a violent snow storm, which 
continued without intermission for nearly 
three days, and covered the ground to the 
depth of two feet, thus preventing the rain 
which had first fallen from freezing. On foot, 
and with but a single guide, his way, which 
led partly through a wilderness and partly 
through the Black Swamp, w^ould, under the 
most favourable circumstances, have been 
toilsome and dangerous. But the unexpected 
yet unavoidable difficulties were such, and 
the circuit he was compelled to make round 
the morasses so increased the distance (about 
a hundred miles), that this dispatch was de- 
layed five days longer than had been antici- 
pated. Mr. Combs arrived at his point of 
destination, Fort McArthur, on the 7th of 
January, worn out and exhausted with fatigue 
and privations — neither he nor his guide hav- 
ing tasted food of any kind, for the last three 
days of their journey. General Tupper at 
once forwarded this dispatch to General 



120 LIFE OF 

Harrison, who received it on the 12th of 
January, and immediately issued orders for 
sending on a part of the artillery to support 
General Winchester, and a supply of provi- 
sions for his troops. 

In the mean time. General Winchester had 
proceeded down the Maumee to the Rapids, 
where he arrived on the 10th of January, and 
encamped at a strong position on the north 
side of the river, which he fortified. 

The first information General Harrison re- 
ceived of Winchester's arrival at this place, 
came, not from that officer himself, but through 
an indirect channel. On the evening of the 
16th, an express arrived from General Per- 
kins, who then commanded a force at Lower 
Sandusky, informing Harrison that Winches- 
ter had encamped at the Rapids, and had ap- 
plied to him for a battalion of troops, to aid in 
a movement that he ivas meditating against the 
enemy. Alarmed at this intelligence, and 
dreading disastrous consequences. General 
Harrison instantly dispatched reinforcements 
to Winchester, and used every effort to for- 
ward him a supply of provisions and military 
stores. 

Soon after Winchester had arrived at the 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 121 

Rapids, the inhabitants of Frenchtown — a 
small settlement on the river Raisin, within 
our territory, sent messages to General Win- 
chester, urgently entreating him to protect 
them fi'om the large force of British and In- 
dians, assembled at Maiden, only eighteen 
miles distant from their town. By the advice 
of a council of his officers, Winchester deter- 
mined to comply with their entreaties, and 
send on a strong force for their protection. 
On the 17th, Colonel Lewis and Colonel Allen 
w^ere detached for this duty, and marched at 
the head of six hundred and sixty men. The 
nex>t day, they arrived at the river Raisin, and 
finding that the forces of the enemy were al- 
ready in Frenchtown, they attacked them 
with great gallantry, and after a sharp action, 
succeeded in dislodging them, and gained 
possession of the place. The engagement 
commenced at three o'clock, and the pursuit 
continued until dusk, when the enemy were 
driven several miles from the field of action. 
Flushed with this victory. Colonel Lewis de- 
termined to maintain his position, and dis- 
patched an express to General Winchester to 
apprise him of his intention. 

Winchester, on hearing this intelligence, 
11 



122 LIFE OF 

approved of the decision of Colonel Lewis, 
and knowing his critical situation, hastened to 
support him with all his force. He arrived 
and encamped at Frenchtown on the 20th — 
but unfortunately, for the first time during the 
whole campaign, he omitted to fortify his po- 
sition, and even neglected to station a piquet 
guard on the road leading to Maiden, where 
the enemy were posted in great strength. 
The whole of the 21st was suffered to pass 
away without any of these necessary precau- 
tions having been adopted — and on the follow- 
ing morning, the British and Indians from 
Maiden, having advanced unperceived with 
their entire force, opened a heavy fire of 
grape-shot upon our troops, from several 
pieces of artillery, at a distance of not more 
than three hundred yards from the camp. 
The troops under Winchester's immediate 
command, completely taken by surprise and 
unprotected by any fortification, were soon 
overpowered by numbers, and forced to re- 
treat in confusion. Winchester, and the in- 
trepid Lewis and Allen, made every eflfort to 
rally the fugitives, but in vain. They fled in 
disorder across the river and to the woods, 
where the Indians having gained their flank 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 123 

and rear, pursued and tomahawked them 
without^ mercy. General Winchester and 
some few others were taken prisoners and 
carried to the British camp. 

But a part of Lewis's detachment, who had 
adopted the precaution to protect their en- 
campment by pickets, still defended their posi- 
tion with great bravery and resolution ; until 
Proctor, the commander of the British force, 
procured an order from Winchester, com- 
manding them to surrender. As their ammu- 
nition was nearly expended, and they had no 
hope of relief, these heroic troops, though re- 
luctantly, obeyed this order — but not, how- 
ever, until Proctor had given them an express 
assurance of protection from the exasperated 
rage and cruelty of the Indians. 

All the prisoners who were able to make 
the exertion, were marched to Maiden ; but 
those who w^ere severely wounded were left 
behind in the houses at Frenchtown, with the 
repeated promises of Proctor that they should 
be protected from the savages, and that, the 
next morning, sleds should be sent to convey 
them to Maiden. But instead of this, they 
were left wholly unprotected, and the next day, 
in place of the sleds, came a part}'- of infuri- 



J124 LIFE OF 

ated Indians, who set fire to the town, burnt 
the houses, and barbarously murdered all the 
prisoners in cold blood ! 

The defeat and massacre at the river Raisin 
produced a great sensation throughout the 
Western country, and especially in Kentucky 
— which state, always foremost in danger, lost 
some of her most valuable citizens and gallant 
officers in this disastrous affair. So serious a 
calamity necessarily excited much discussion 
with regard to its causes, and as some censure 
was thrown on those who committed no error, 
and who were not instrumental in causing the 
defeat of Winchester, which proved the defeat 
of the campaign, it is proper that we should 
proceed to state the measures taken by Gene- 
ral Harrison to reinforce General Winchester, 
and prevent the unfortunate result above re- 
lated. 

On the evening that General Harrison re- 
ceived, though indirectly, the intelligence of 
General Winchester's contemplated movement 
against the enemy, as before stated, he imme- 
diately dispatched an express to the Rapids 
for information, gave orders for a corps of 
three hundred men to hasten on with the ar- 
tillery, and for escorts to advance, without 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 125 

delay, with the provisions and mihtary stores. 
The next morning he proceeded himself to 
Lower Sandusky, at which place he arrived 
in the night following — having travelled a dis- 
tance of forty miles in seven hours and a half, 
over roads requiring such exertion to pass 
them, that the horse of his aid, Major Hakill, 
fell dead, from fatigue and exhaustion, on their 
arrival at the fort. He found there, that Gene- 
ral Perkins had prepared to send a battalion 
to the Rapids, in conformity with a request 
from General Winchester. That battalion was 
dispatched the next morning, the 18th, with a 
piece of artillery ; but so bad were the roads, 
that it was unable, by its utmost exertions, to 
reach the river Raisin, a distance of seventy- 
five miles, before the fatal disaster. 

General Harrison then determined to pro- 
ceed to the Rapids himself, to learn personally 
from General Winchester his situation and 
views. At four o'clock on the morning of the 
19th, while he still remained at Lower San- 
dusky, he received the information, that Colo- 
nel Lewis had been sent with a detachment, 
to secure the provisions on the river Raisin, 
and to occupy, with the intention of holding 

possession of the village of Frenchtown. There 
11* 



126 LIFE OF 

was then but one regiment and a battalion at 
Lower Sandusky — the regiment was immedi- 
ately put in motion, with orders to make forced 
marches for the Rapids, while General Harri- 
son himself immediately proceeded to the same 
place. On his way, he met an express with 
intelligence of the victory which had been 
gained on the preceding day. 

The anxiety of General Harrison to push 
forward, and either prevent, or remedy any 
misfortune which might occur, as soon as he 
was apprised of the advance to the river Rai- 
sin, was manifested by the great personal ex- 
ertions v/hich he made in this instance. He 
started in a sleigh, with General Perkins, to 
overtake the battalion under Cotgreve, attend- 
ed only by a single servant. As the sleigh 
went very slowly, from the roughness of the 
road, he took the horse of his servant and 
pushed on alone. Night came upon him in 
the midst of the swamp, which was so imper- 
fectly frozen, that his horse sank to the saddle- 
girths at every step. He had then no resource 
but to dismount and lead his horse, jumping 
himself from one sod to another. When al- 
most exhausted with the cold and fatigue, the 
General overtook one of Cotgreve's men, by 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 127 

whose assistance he was enabled to reach the 
cannp of the battalion. 

Very early on the morning of the 20th, 
General Harrison arrived at the Rapids, from 
which place General Winchester had gone, on 
the preceding evening, with all his disposable 
force, to the river Raisin. On the same day, 
by a forced march, Cotgreve's battalion 
reached the Rapids, and was, without delay, 
hurried on with two pieces of artillery, to the 
aid of Winchester — and on the evening of the 
21st, three hundred Kentuckians, who had been 
left behind by Winchester, as a garrison, were 
likewise ordered to march to Frenchtovvn. 
The next day intelligence reached the Rapids 
of Proctor's attack on Winchester's camp, and 
General Harrison instantly ordered the whole 
force at that station to be pushed on with all 
possible expedition, and himself hastened for- 
ward to the scene of danger. They were soon, 
however, met by fugitives from the field of 
battle, from whom they ascertained the' total 
defeat of Winchester's forces. A council was 
held of general and field officers, by whom it 
was decided that it would be imprudent and 
useless to advance any further. Strong par- 
ties were then sent out to protect the fugitives 



128 LIFE OF 

from the field of battle and from Frenchtown, 
and the remainder of the troops returned to 
the Rapids. 

It is thus evident that every thing possible, 
within the control of General Harrison, was 
done by him to reinforce and aid General Win- 
chester in the dangerous position he had as- 
sumed. This expedition of Winchester, to the 
river Raisin, was highly imprudent, since he 
advanced within eighteen miles of the head- 
quarters of the enemy, whose forces were 
strong and daily increasing, and he, at the 
same time, removed more than thirty miles 
from the Rapids, the nearest point from which 
he could possibly have received any assistance. 
Still the disastrous result that ensued would no 
doubt have been avoided, had he adopted the 
ordinary precautions of fortifying his camp, 
and stationing videttes to give him timely 
warning of the approach of the enemy. His 
troops could then, at least, have defended them- 
selves until the arrival of the reinforcements 
from the Rapids, when the enemy would have 
been compelled to retreat, or, had they fought, 
the battle would, in all probability, have ter- 
minated in our favour. 

After Winchester's defeat, our troops at the 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 129 

Rapids amounted to less than nine hundred ef- 
fective men. General Harrison called a coun- 
cil of war, who, supposing that their position 
would be attacked by the enemy in overwhelm- 
iug force, unanimously recommended that the 
army should fall back to Portage River, eigh- 
teen miles distant. The next morning, there- 
fore, our troops abandoned the Rapids, and re- 
tired to the designated point, which they 
strongly fortified. 

But on the 1st of February, the army, hav- 
ing been reinforced by the arrival of General 
Leftwich, with the Virginia brigade and a part 
of the artillery, augmenting their number to 
eighteen hundred men, again marched to the 
Rapids. General Harrison, still entertaining 
a hope to accomplish the great objects of the 
campaign, during the winter, continued to ex- 
ert himself unremittingly in making prepara- 
tions. But the elements seemed to conspire 
against him. Instead of the severe cold and 
intense frosts, that usually prevailed in this 
northern region at this season, and which 
would have enabled him to move his forces, 
military stores, and supplies, with comparative 
ease and celerity, warm rains broke up the 
roads, and were followed by heavy falls of 



130 LIFE OF 

snow, which rendered the march of troops ex- 
ceedingly fatiguing and dangerous, as well as 
slow, and the conveyance of provisions and 
heavy munitions of war almost impossible. 
The unavoidable exposure, too, of the troops 
to the heavy rains, which kept the encamp- 
ment almost constantly inundated, the defi- 
ciency of proper tents to shelter them, and 
their want even of sufficient food and clothing, 
produced pleurisies and much other severe 
sickness in the camp, and greatly reduced the 
number of effective men.* 

Under these circumstances. General Harri- 
son was at length constrained to abandon, 
though with much reluctance, all thought of 
the contemplated expedition to Maiden, and 
he prepared to go into winter quarters at the 
Rapids. He accordingly selected a good po- 
sition on the south side of the river, which he 
strongly fortified, and called Camp Meigs, in 

* The General's tent, placed in the centre, happened 
to be in one of the lowest parts of the encampment, 
and consequently suffered most from the rain ; but, 
when entreated by his officers to change its position, he 
refused to do so, declaring that it was necessary that 
every military man should be satisfied with the situa- 
tion which, in the course of his duty, fell to his lot. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 131 

honour of the patriotic governor of Ohio. 
Leaving the army at that station, General 
Harrison proceeded to Cincinnati, to procure 
reinforcements of men, and supplies of provi- 
sions and military stores. 

About this time, General Harrison was ap- 
pointed major-general in the service of the' 
United States. This appointment had been 
strangely delayed, although General Harrison 
had been clothed with such extensive powers ; 
and the people of the West, fearing that their 
favourite commander might therefore resign 
at the close of this campaign, had called pub- 
lic meetings and sent addresses to the presi- 
dent, requesting him to give Harrison the 
appointment of major-general, and urging him 
to accept it — a demonstration of public feeling 
which soon produced the desired effect. 

We should here mention, that while engaged 
in the various and arduous services of this 
campaign. General Harrison organized several 
distinct expeditions against the Indian towns, 
to keep the hostile savages in check, and pro- 
tect our extended frontier. One of these ex- 
peditions, consisting of a detachment of six 
hundred men, under the command of Colonel 
Campbell, was sent against the towns on the 



132 LIFE OF 

Mississineway, from which our scattering set- 
tlements had suffered much annoyance. This 
enterprise was conducted with great skill, and 
proved signally successful. The principal 
town was attacked in the most gallant man- 
ner, and after a desperate action of more than 
an hour, was carried at the point of the bayo- 
net. From the general order issued by Har- 
rison, on the return of this expedition, we 
make the following extract, which will convey 
some idea of the humane and generous feel- 
ings, that have always characterised both his 
public and private conduct. After awarding 
these gallant troops the high meed of praise 
which their bravery had won, he goes on to 
say — "But the character of this gallant de- 
tachment, exhibiting as it did, perseverance, 
fortitude, and bravery, would, however, be 
incomplete, if, in the midst of victory, they 
had forgotten the feelings of humanity. It is 
with the sincerest pleasure that the general 
has heard, that the most punctual obedience 
was paid to his orders, in not only saving all 
the women and children, but in sparing all the 
warriors who ceased to resist ; and that even 
when vigorously attacked by the enemy, the 
claims of mercy prevailed over every sense 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 133 

of their own danger, and this heroic band re- 
spected the h'ves of their prisoners. Let an 
account of murdered innocence be opened in 
the records of heaven against our enemies 
alone. The American soldier will follow the 
example of his government ; and the sword of 
the one will not be raised against the fallen 
and helpless, nor the gold of the other be paid 
for the scalps of a massacred enemy." What 
a contrast do these noble sentiments present 
to the atrocious conduct of the British Gene- 
ral, Proctor — who, at the cruel massacre at 
Raisin river, and at the Rapids, basely permit- 
ted unresisting prisoners of war to be unspar- 
ingly butchered, by his savage and remorse- 
less alUes. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Opening of the second Campaign. — Siege at Fort 
Meigs. — Its gallant Defence. — Brilliant sortie. — De- 
feat of Colonel Dudley. — The Siege abandoned. — 
Second Siege of Fort Meigs. — Attack on Fort Ste- 
phenson. 

Early in the spring, intelligence was re- 
ceived that the British were making extensive 
preparations, and concentrating a large force 
12 



134 LIFE OF 

of regular soldiers, Canadians, and Indians, to 
besiege Fort Meigs. 

On obtaining this information, General Har- 
rison hastened to his camp, and exerted the 
most strenuous efforts, to prepare for this 
threatened attack of the enemy. His presence 
cheered the troops, and he inspired them with 
fresh ardour, on the approach of the enemy, 
by an eloquent address, in which he alluded 
modestly, but in the most animating manner, 
to the neighbouring battle-field, where Gene- 
ral Wayne had gained the brilliant victory of 
the Maumee Rapids, and where he himself 
had won the brightest of his earlier laurels. 

At this time, the garrison of Fort Meigs was 
much reduced in numbers, and the period for 
which those who still remained had enlisted, 
was about to expire. General Harrison there- 
fore looked with great anxiety for the arrival 
of the strong reinforcement of Kentucky 
troops, who were approaching with all possi- 
ble dispatch under General Clay ; but whose 
march had been greatly impeded by the 
wretched condition of the roads. 

On the morning of the 28th of April, the 
scouts brought in intelligence of the near ad- 
vance of the enemy. And soon after, on that 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 135 

day, the British troops were discovered from 
the fort, ascending the river in vessels and 
boats, while the Indians, in strong force, were 
seen approaching, at the same time, by land. 
The British disembarked and encamped at the 
old station on the Maumee, nearly two miles 
below Fort Meigs ; and on the night after they 
landed, they commenced the construction of 
three powerful batteries, on the north side of 
the river, directly opposite our camp. 

On the first of May, the batteries of the 
enemy were completed. But to counteract 
their effect, during the time they had been 
employed in erecting them, our troops had 
thrown up a traverse of earth twelve feet in 
height, and running across the whole extent 
of the camp. The construction of this tra- 
verse, being behind the tents of our camp, had 
been entirely concealed from the British, but 
as soon as their batteries began to play, these 
tents were struck, and to the disappointment 
of the enemy, our troops were safely with- 
drawn behind the protection of their new for- 
tification. A severe fire was now opened from 
the British works, which was returned, with 
equal vigour and more effect, from the fort. 
Other batteries were likewise erected by the 



136 LIFE OF 

enemy, on the southern side of the river, and 
a heavy cannonading was continued, with 
scarcely any internaission, for five days. In 
consequence, however, of the skilful disposi- 
tions of General Harrison, very little loss was 
suffered on our side. 

At midnight, on the fourth of May, General 
Harrison received the welcome intelligence 
that General Clay with his forces was just 
above the Rapids, and would arrive at the fort 
by daybreak of the next morning. Immedi- 
ately on receiving this information. General 
Harrison promptly decided to make a bold 
and vigorous effort to raise the siege, by a 
simultaneous attack on the enemy's batteries 
upon both sides of the river. Preparations were 
at once made for a sortie from the fort, against 
the British works on the right bank, and an 
officer was dispatched to General Clay, direct- 
ing him to land six or eight hundred men about 
a mile above the fort, on the left bank, with 
orders to march with great secresy and ra- 
pidity to the assault of the batteries in that 
quarter, to carry them by storm, spike the 
cannon and let down the carriages, and then 
hasten to their boats and cross over to the 
camp. The sortie from the fort was attended 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 137 

with great success. The detachment ordered 
-to this service, consisted of three hundred and 
fifty men, a part of whom were regulars, and 
the remainder volunteers and Kentucky mili- 
tia, under the command of Colonel Miller, of 
the United States' army. These brave troops 
attacked a body of British regulars and In- 
dians, of more than double their number ; but 
the impetuosity of their charge was irresisti- 
ble, and after a severe struggle, they drove 
the enemy from the batteries. They spiked 
the caniion, took a large number of prisoners, 
and having fully accomphshed their object, 
returned in triumph to the fort. This sortie 
was one of the most sanguinary and desperate 
actions fought during the whole war — and its 
brilliant success was richly merited, by the 
intrepid gallantry of the brave troops engaged 
in the enterprise. 

General Clay, after detaching Colonel Dud- 
ley with eight hundred men, to attack the bat- 
teries on the left bank, descended the river 
with his troops in boats ; and though endan- 
gered by the swiftness of the rapids, and 
strongly opposed by the Indians, he overcame 
every difficulty, and fought his way, in safety, 
to the fort. 

19 % 



138 LIFE OF 

In the mean time Colonel Dudlcy^s detachment 
had landed nearly two miles above the enemy's 
batteries. This movement was so wholly 
unlooked for, that the attack proved complete- 
ly successful. The British were taken by sur- 
prise, and the gallant Kentuckians charging 
unexpectedly upon them, put them to flight 
and carried their batteries without the loss of 
a man. But though the commencement of this 
enterprise was so well conducted and so sin- 
gularly fortunate, its result proved far other- 
wise. When Dudley attacked the batteries, 
he threw forward a van-guard, consisting of 
two companies of spies and friendly Indians, 
under the command of Captain Leslie Combs, 
whose bravery and intrepidity in the former 
campaign, as well as the intimate knowledge 
of the country wdiich he then acquired, had 
obtained him, though very young, a command 
over much older officers. Dudley had direct- 
ed Combs to take possession of the woods skirt- 
ing the swamp, to prevent the approach of the 
Indians from^ that quarter; but in the hurry 
and excitement of the moment, he omitted to 
give any directions to retire to the boats after 
the storming of the batteries. Combs, in com- 
pliance with his orders, posted his men along 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 139 

the edge of the swamp — a position which they 
had not long occupied, before they were at- 
tacked by outlying parties of Indians, who, 
every moment increased in numbers. A re- 
treat to the boats might still have been effected 
by the van-guard, with very inconsiderable 
loss ; but Combs, thinking it necessary, from 
Dudley's instructions, that he should maintain 
his position, cheered on his men, who, unaided 
by any reinforcement, bravely resisted the In- 
dians for some time. By the sacrifice of this 
small but intrepid body of men, Dudley might 
even yet have withdrawn the remainder of his 
troops without much additional loss; but on 
hearing the report of the Indian rifles, this gal- 
lant and high-minded officer, conscious of his 
omission to give the van-guard the necessary 
orders to retire to their boats, and hoping to 
bring them off in safety, hastened at once to 
their support, leaving I^ajor Shelby with but 
two companies, in charge of the batteries he 
had taken. He attacked the Indians w^ith great 
vigour, and, after a sharp action, succeeded in 
driving them some distance into the swamp. 
But, meanwhile, the Indians had been continu- 
ally crossing over from their main body on the 
opposite side of the river, until their force had 



140 LIFE OF 

increased to overwhelming numbers; and Dud- 
ley, after repeatedly driving them back by the 
impetuous charge of his brave Kentuckians, 
was at last compelled to retreat. He still 
hoped, however, to make a successful stand 
against the enemy at the batteries ; but on ap- 
proaching them, he found, to his mortification, 
that they had been retaken by a superior force 
of British troops, to whom, finding themselves 
entirely surrounded by the Indians, the greater 
part of his men reluctantly surrendered them- 
selves. The brave and generous Dudley him- 
self paid with his life the penalty of his own 
neglect and thoughtlessness, being killed in this 
retreat, as were Captain Kilbreath, the second 
in command to Captain Combs, (who was se- 
verely wounded), and several other gallant and 
meritorious ofiicers. Even after the surrender 
of our troops, the Indians still continued to 
tomahawk and scalp them without mercy, in 
the presence of the British commander and his 
whole army, until the arrival of Tecumthe, 
who, less savage than Proctor, instantly put a 
stop to this barbarous massacre. 

About two hundred of the left wing of Dud- 
ley's detachment escaped to their boats, and 
succeeded in reaching the fort ; but more than 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 141 

an eighth part of all the men and ofRcers en- 
gaged in this sanguinary contest were killed, 
and the remainder were taken prisoners. Thus 
ended, in signal defeat, an enterprise ably plan- 
ned, and conducted for a time with great skill 
and bravery, and which promised such entire- 
success. But it must be evident to every one, 
that had the instructions given to Dudley been 
obeyed, this misfortune could not have occur- 
red, and the day would have been one of un- 
clouded success and triumph. 

Foiled by the skilful dispositions of Harri- 
son, and by the battle, or rather succession of 
battles, fought on the fifth, Proctor was com- 
pelled to abandon the siege of Fort Meigs — 
and on the eighth of May, he broke up his 
camp, and retreated in disappointment and dis- 
grace. 

Thus terminated the glorious defence of 
Fort Meigs. Harrison, soon after, left Gene- 
ral Clay in command of that important post, 
and, unwearied in his exertions, proceeded to 
more difficult and arduous duties, at other ex- 
posed stations. 

The unceasing efforts of the British, and 
the restless spirit of Tecumthe, allowed our 
troops but little time to recover from their se- 



142 LIFE OF 

vere fatigues. In less than two months after 
the siege of Fort Meigs had been abandoned, ■ 
the Indians assembled a formidable body of 
more than five thousand warriors, under their 
most noted chiefs, and again invested that for- 
tress. On receiving this intelligence, General 
Harrison immediately removed his head-quar- 
ters to Seneca Town, about nine miles up the 
Sandusky river, where he constructed a forti- 
fied camp. From this position the general 
could fall back for the protection of his prin- 
cipal depot at Upper Sandusky, should the 
enemy endeavour to turn his flank and attack' 
that place ; or should the safety of Fort Meigs 
require it, he could proceed there by an unfre- 
quented route, and cut his way into the fort 
with a reinforcement. As soon as the arrival 
of additional troops should render his force 
strong enough to cope with that of the enemy 
in the field, he intended to make a descent 
upon them from this favourable situation, and 
raise the siege. The enemy, however, re- 
mained before Fort Meigs but a few days. On 
the 28th of July, despairing of success, they 
again abandoned the siege of this place. The 
British troops embarked and sailed round to 
Sandusky Bay, while a large body of their 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 143 

savage allies marched across the swamps of 
Portage River to co-operate with them in a 
combined attack on Fort Stephenson, a tem- 
porary depot at Lower Sandusky. 

At this time the enemy had nearly seven 
thousand men in the field — two thousand of 
whom were British regulars and Canadians, 
and the remainder were warriors of the fiercest 
Indian tribes. The army under General Har- 
rison was greatly inferior in numbers, and it 
became his duty, as a skilful commander, to 
withdraw his unimportant outposts, to avoid 
risking unnecessarily the loss of a single sol- 
dier, and to enable him, by concentrating his 
forces, to hold the enemy in check, at least, if 
he should not prove strong enough to give him 
battle. Fort Stephenson was a temporary and 
unimportant station, and so commanded by 
the high ground in its neighbourhood, as to be 
utterly indefensible against heavy artillery — 
and such, from their command of the lake, the 
British could easily transport to its attack. 
Fully aware of this, from having reconnoitred 
the ground in person, General Harrison, on 
learning that this station was about to be as- 
sailed, thought it proper to withdraw the gar- 
rison. He accordingly dispatched an order 



144 LIFE OF 

to Major Croghan, directing him to abandon 
Fort Stephenson, and repair, if practicable, to 
head-quarters — which were still at Seneca 
Town, nine miles distant. This order was 
not received by Major Croghan until the fol- 
lowing day — when flying parties of the In- 
dians had become so numerous round the fort, 
that, as Croghan himself stated, it was too late 
to carry the order into execution, and he de- 
cided on maintaining the place. In conse- 
quence of this disobedience of orders, Colonel 
Wells was immediately sent, with a strong es- 
cort of cavalry, to take command of Fort Ste- 
phenson, and Croghan was ordered to repair 
forthwith to head-quarters. But on his arrival 
there, he made such satisfactory explanations 
to the commander-in-chief, of the situation of 
the fort, and of his own respectful intentions, 
that General Harrison at once reinstated him 
in his command. He returned to his duties 
the following morning, and on the same day, 
July 31st, this station was invested by a force 
of thirteen hundred British regulars and In- 
dians. They attacked the fort with great 
vigour, and repeatedly attempted to take it by 
assault — but they were each time defeated, and 
were at length forced to abandon their attempt. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 145 

and retreat in confusion, having lost, in killed 
and wounded, nearly as many as the entire 
number of the gallant spirits who defended 
the fort. 

This defence of a position, which General 
Harrison had ordered to be abandoned, and 
the fact of his not having immediately ad- 
vanced upon the enemy, were seized upon, 
with avidity, by the ignorant and malicious 
among his political opponents, who industri- 
ously circulated the falsest statements and 
most perverted misrepresentations, in relation 
to these occurrences. But fortunately, the plain 
truth soon became so well known, that Gene- 
ral Harrison's fair fame suffered no injury from 
these unfounded calumnies. So many gallant 
officers as well as honourable and high-mind- 
ed men bore witness, of their own accord, to 
the military foresight and wisdom of his mea- 
sures, that no slander which even the malice 
of his calumniators could devise, ever dark- 
ened, for a moment, his unsullied reputation. 

We lay before our readers the following 
short extracts from an address to the public, 
relative to this affair, which was voluntarily 
published by the general, field, and staff-offi- 
cers, of General Harrison's army. After ex- 
13 



140 LIFE OF 

pressing their " regret and surprise, that charges 
as improper in form as in substance, should 
have been made against General Harrison, 
during the recent investment of Lower San- 
dusky," they go on to say : — " He who believes 
that with our disposable force, and under the 
circumstance which then occurred, General 
Harrison ought to have advanced upon the 
enemy, must be left to correct his opinion in 
the school of experience. 

" On a review of the course then adopted, 
"we are decidedly of the opinion, that it was 
such as was dictated by military wisdom, and 
by a due regard to our circumstances and to 
the situation of the enemy. * * * * And 
with a ready acquiescence, beyond the mere 
claims of military duty, we are prepared to 
obey a general, whose measures meet our most 
deliberate approbation, and merit that of his 
<^ountry." 

The chivalrous and noble-spirited Croghan, 
who was one of the signers of the above ad- 
dress, about the same time published another 
paper on this subject, dated from Lower San- 
dusky, in which he says : — " I have, with much 
regret, seen in some of the public prints such 
* misrepresentations respecting my refusal to 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 147 

evacuate this post, as are calculated not only 
to injure me in the estimation of military men, 
but also to excite unfavourable impressions as 
to the propriety of General Harrison's conduct 
relative to this affair. 

"His character as a military man is too 
well established to need my approbation or 
support. But his public service entitles him 
at least to common justice. This affair does 
not furnish cause of reproach. If public opin- 
ion has been lately misled respecting his late 
conduct, it will require but a moment's cool, 
dispassionate reflection, to convince them of 
its propriety. The measures recently adopted 
hy him, so far fr&m deserving censure, are the 
dearest proofs of his keen penetration and able 
generalship.^^ 

We have dwelt on this passage in the life 
of General Harrison, somewhat longer than 
is consistent with the brevity and condensed 
nature of this work — but the political oppo- 
nents of General Harrison can find so few 
points in his whole life, that afford them the 
slightest apology for censure, that they have 
been driven to pervert and misrepresent an af- 
fair of so simple a nature as this, and one that, 
in truth, entitled him, as the gallant Croghan 



148 LIFE OF 

justly says, to the highest commendation. We 
have therefore thought it no more than com- 
mon justice to him and to our readers, to lay 
before them this plain exposition of facts. The 
wisest and best actions are often misunderstood 
and perverted by the ignorant or malicious. 
We trust and believe that the former consti- 
tute the larger portion of those who have 
sought to shadow the fair fame of General 
Harrison ; but while mean and sordid spirits 
exist, envy and detraction will always pursue 
exalted merit. Even Washington, the Father 
of our Country, was intrigued against and ca- 
lumniated. 

Disappointed in their hope of plunder, and 
dispirited by the numerous defeats they had 
sustained, the savage allies of the British had 
become discontented ; the second siege of 
Fort Meigs had been abandoned, and gradu- 
ally the enemy entirely withdrew from our 
territory, and concentrated their forces at 
Maiden, their principal stronghold in Upper 
Canada, It will thus be seen, that the skill 
with which General Harrison had conducted 
his defensive operations, the only resource 
left him in the face of a superior foe, had been 
eminently successful ; and had not only pro- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 149 

tected our widely extended frontier, but had 
eventually forced the enemy to retire, morti- 
fied and humbled by defeat, from our country. 
Durino: the whole of this interesting: cam- 
paign, the vigilance and the intrepidity of 
General Harrison, with the bravery of his sol- 
diers, enabled him to keep a far superior force 
of the enemy in check, and to protect the 
wide extent of our exposed frontier. Our 
forts were ably defended, and our troops gal- 
lantly repelled every attack of the enemy, 
except in some few instances, where they 
were assailed by an overwhelming force. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Harrison advises the construction of a fleet on Lake 
Erie. — Perry's Victory. — Embarkation of the army. — ■ 
Invasion of Canada. — Pursuit of the enemy. — Battle 
of the Thames and capture of the British army. — 
Close of the campaign. — Resignation of General 
Harrison. 

The activity and enterprise of General 

Harrison did not long permit the enemy to 

rest, after their retreat from our territory. 

He immediately commenced preparations for 

13* 



150 LIFE OF 

carrying the war into their own country, and 
formed his plan for the capture of Maiden, 
and the conquest of Upper Canada. 

During the preceding campaign, in his let- 
ters to the War Department, General Harri- 
son had lepeatedly urged the great import- 
ance of obtaining command of Lake Erie, 
and the immediate necessity for creating a 
navy for that purpose. In one of his commu- 
nications he remarks — " Should our oflensive 
operations be suspended until spring, it is my 
decided opinion that the cheapest and most 
effectual plan will be to obtain command of 
Lake Erie. This being once effected, every 
difficulty will be removed. An army of four 
thousand men landed on the north side of the 
lake, below Maiden, will soon reduce that 
place, re-take Detroit, and, with the aid of the 
fleet, proceed down the lake to co-operate 
with the army from Niagara." In several 
subsequent letters, he again strenuously urged 
this plan, until the government at length became 
convinced of the importance of the measure, 
and determined upon its adoption. At that 
time we were not in possession of a single 
armed vessel above the falls of the Niagara. 
It was now, however, resolved to proceed 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. ' 151 

vigorously to the forming a fleet on Lake 
Erie, and the gallant Perry was sent to super- 
intend its building, and to take the command. 
No effort of activity or skill was spared to 
hurry the completion and equipment of the 
vessels ; and early in August, Commodore 
Perry had the satisfaction of finding that he 
had a fleet fitted for sea and ready for action, 
nearly equal in force to that of the enemy. 

On the 2d of August, he commenced get- 
ting his heavier vessels over the bar at the 
mouth of the harbour at Erie. On the 5th, 
he sailed for Sandusky Bay. On his arrival 
there, he sent a dispatch to General Harrison 
at head-quarters, to obtain a company of sol- 
diers to act as marines. The general visited 
the fleet accom.panied by several of his 
oflicers, and sent on board a picked detach- 
ment of nearly a hundred and fifty men. 
Commodore Perry then sailed for Maiden, and 
used every endeavour to bring the British 
fleet to an engagement. His attempts, for 
some time, proved ineffectual ; but at last he 
had the good fortune to meet them, on the 
10th of September, and fought that celebrated 
battle, in which, after a severely-contested 
action, he succeeded in gaining a brilliant 



152 L^FE OF 

victory and capturing the entire fleet of the 
enemy. Perry immediately dispatched a 
messenger to General Harrison, with the 
following brief but very acceptable note. 

« U. S. Brig Niagara, Sept. 10th, 1813. 

Dear General : — 
We have met the enemy and they are 
ours — two ships, two brigs, one schooner and 
a sloop. 

Yours with great respect and esteem. 

Oliver Hazard Perry." 

By a happy coincidence, this glorious event 
occurred just about the time when General 
Harrison had matured his plans for the inva- 
sion of Canada. On the 27th of September, 
the troops embarked at Sandusky Bay, and 
advanced towards Maiden, expecting to find 
the British and Indians encamped there in full 
force. But upon landing on the Canada shore, 
they found that Proctor, disheartened by his 
recent defeats, had abandoned that stronghold, 
after having destroyed the fort and navy-yard, 
and had retreated with his regulars and savage 
allies to Sandwich. This retreat was in op- 
position to the counsel of Tecumthe, who ad- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 153 

vised Proctor to remain protected by his for- 
tifications, and fight our troops as they landed. 
But the guiky fears of Proctor would not 
suffer him to accede to this more judicious as 
well as gallant counsel of his savage ally. 
Our army encamped at Maiden, having at 
last driven the enemy from their head-quar- 
ters, and gained possession of that fortress, 
from which had issued, for years past, those 
ruthless bands of savages, which had swept 
so fiercely over our extended frontier, leaving 
death and destruction only in their path. 

The army advanced rapidly in pursuit of 
the enemy, who had retreated up the river 
Thames, to the Moravian Town — a place 
which is destined to be remembered as the 
battle-ground of one of the most remarkable 
and decisive actions fought during the war. 

On the evening of the 4th of October, our 
troops encamped a few miles above the forks 
of the river ; near which place after a slight 
skirmish with a flying party of Indians, they 
gained possession of a large quantity of mili- 
tary stores and munitions of war, which the 
enemy had abandoned in their precipitate re- 
treat. A still larger amount had been de- 
stroyed, to prevent their falling into our hands. 



154 LIFE OF 

A breastwork was then thrown up around the 
encampment, which proved to have been a 
necessary precairtion ; as, during that night, 
General Proctor and Tecumthe came down 
the river and reconnoitred our position, with 
the intention of making an attack before day ; 
but on seeing its strength, and the care taken 
to guard against surprise, they were discou- 
raged and abandoned their scheme. 

On the morning of the 5th, the troops were 
under arms at an early hour, and as the day 
dawned, the army was put in motion. The 
mounted regiment, with general Harrison and 
his staft' at their head, led the van ; and the 
infantry followed as expeditiously as possible, 
under the command of Governor Shelby of 
Kentucky, a time-honoured and distinguished 
veteran of the revolution. By nine o'clock, 
the advance reached a mill, near which there 
is a rapid in the river, where it is practicable 
to ford it on horseback; and at this place 
General Harrison intended to cross, tHat he 
might reach the enemy, who were known to 
be on the north side. Two gunboats and 
several batteaux laden with military stores 
and munitions of war, together with several pri- 
soners, had already been captured that morning, 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 155 

and at the mill a lieutenant and eight privates 
were taken, from whom information was re- 
ceived that the enemy had determined to give 
us battle at no great distance from that place. 
The infantry soon came up with the mounted 
men, and the passage of the river was effected 
by twelve o'clock. Each horseman took up 
one of the infantry behind him, and the re- 
mainder crossed in canoes. As soon as all 
the troops were over, the line of march was 
resumed in the former order. At every place 
where the road touched a bend of the river, 
boats and canoes were found, with military 
stores, clothing and provisions which the 
enemy had abandoned in their precipitate 
retreat. After advancing about eight miles, 
an encampment was discovered, which Colo- 
nel Warburton had occupied the night before 
with a part of the British troops ; and it was 
ascertained that General Proctor had reached 
the Moravian Town, four miles from this 
place, with a detachment on the preceding 
day. As it was now certain that the enemy 
were nearly overtaken, the general directed 
the advance of the mounted regiment to 
hasten their march, with a view to procure 
the necessary information for regulating the 



156 LIFE OF 

movements of the main body. When they 
had proceeded about two miles, they captured 
a British wagoner, who informed them that 
the enemy were lying in order of battle, only 
about three hundred yards before them, wait- 
ing for the arrival of our army. Our scouts 
confirmed the report of the wagoner, and the 
troops were halted and formed in order of 
battle. 

General Proctor, having had his choice of 
ground, occupied a strong position, well se- 
lected to resist the progress of our army. It 
was flanked on the left by the river Thames, 
and supported by artillery, and on the right, 
by two extensive swamps, running nearly 
parallel to the river and occupied by a strong 
body of Indians. The British regulars were 
formed in open order, in two extended lines. 
The Indians were commanded by Tecumthe 
in person. Their left flank was posted on the 
isthmus between the two swamps, and their 
right extended a considerable distance down 
the principal marsh. 

General Harrison drew up one division of 
his infantry in a double line reaching from 
the river to the swamp, opposite to Proctor's 
troops, and the other division at right angles 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 157 

to the first, with its front extending along the 
swamp, with a view of preventing the Indians 
from turning his left fiank and attacking him 
in the rear. Johnson's mounted regiment was 
placed in front of the infantry. 

The American army advanced in order 
of battle, and the reconnoitring parties soon 
brought in exact intelligence of the disposi- 
tions Proctor had made. Harrison, with the 
rapid decision of an able general, saw at once 
the egregious error of his opponent in forming 
his regular soldiers in extended line, and in- 
stantly took advantage of it. Aware that 
troops formed in open order could not resist 
a vigorous charge of cavalry, he immediately 
ordered Colonel Johnson to form his regiment 
of mounted m.en, and dash through the ene- 
my's line, in close column. This charge was 
rapidly made, and with the most brilliant suc- 
cess. The extended and weakened line of the 
enemy could offer but a feeble resistance to 
the charge of these gallant troops, who dashed 
through their ranks, with overwhelming im- 
petuosity, and wheeling to the right and left, 
began to pour in a destructive fire upon their 
rear. Thrown into confusion and disheart- 
ened by this bold and unexpected manoeuvre, 
14 



158 LIFE OF 

and panic-struck at being assailed both in 
front and rear, the British threw down their 
arms in dismay, and surrendered at discre- 
tion. The whole army was captured, with 
the exception of a few stragglers only, who 
escaped by an early flight with the cowardly 
Proctor. 

The contest with the Indians on the left, 
was maintained with more obstinacy. They 
waited until our columns had advanced within 
a few paces of their concealed position, when 
they commenced a heavy fire which cut down 
nearly the whole of our advanced guard. 
Their fire was warmly returned by our 
troops, who formed in line, and for a while 
a warm conflict was sustained with severe 
execution on both sides. But the Indians 
were finally driven from their coverts by a 
vigorous charge, and forced to retreat into 
the outer swamp — not "however, until they 
had heard of the entire discomfiture of their 
aUies, and that their leader, Tecumthe, had 
been slain. The death of this high-spirited and 
distinguished chief, who possessed to an un- 
usual degree all the nobler qualities of the 
savage warrior in his better days, destroyed 
the strength of the northern tribes of Indians 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 159 

by breaking that bond of union, which his 
personal influence alone had created, and 
which therefore terminated with his exist- 
ence, never again to be renewed to so for- 
midable an extent. 

This decisive and important battle was thus 
fought and won, in a space of time almost 
incredibly short, and with a very trifling loss 
only on our side. All the baggage of the 
enemy, and their valuable military stores and 
munitions of war, together with the official 
papers of Proctor, fell into our hands; and 
several pieces of brass cannon, which had 
been taken from the British in our revolu- 
tionary victories at Saratoga and Yorktown, 
but which Hull had shamefully surrendered at 
Detroit, were again captured from our ancient 
foe. 

The united force of the British regulars and 
Indians engaged in this battle, amounted to 
more than 2800. The number of our troops 
was less than 2500 ; and these were principally 
militia and volunteers. The venerable Gover- 
nor Shelby commanded the Kentucky volun- 
teers in this battle, and General Cass, our pre- 
sent Minister to France, and the heroic Perry, 
acted as volunteer aids to General Harrison. 



160 LIFE OF 

This brilliant victory, following up the capture 
of their fleet on Lake Erie by the gallant Per- 
ry, entirely destroyed the force of the enemy 
in Upper Canada, and put an end to the war 
on our north-western frontier. 

Upon this, as well as former expeditions, 
General Harrison adopted a rule, on all occa- 
sions, to favour himself in nothing, but to share 
equally with the common soldiers the fatigues 
and hardships of the campaign. A small va- 
lise contained all his baggage, except his bed- 
ding, which consisted of a single blanket only, 
fastened over his saddle; and even this he 
gave to Colonel Evans, a British officer, who 
w^as wounded and taken prisoner in this bat- 
tle. Thirty-five British officers, prisoners of 
war, supped with General Harrison on the 
night after the battle, and all the fare he had 
it in his power to offer them was fresh 'beef, 
plainly roasted before a camp fire, without 
either bread or salt. This had been the food 
of the army during the expedition, and the ra- 
tions of the General were always precisely 
those of the soldiers. On every occasion, in- 
deed, he made it a point to set an example of 
fortitude and patience to his men, and to share 
with them every hardship, difficulty, and dan- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 161 

ger. Whether encamped or marching, the 
whole army was regularly under arms at day- 
break ; and, however severe the weather, he 
never failed to be present, and, indeed, was 
generally the first officer on horseback in the 
whole army. 

On receiving the glorious news of the vic- 
tory of the Thames, the thanks of Congress 
were expressed to General Harrison in the 
warmest manner — and President Madison in 
his message, dated on the 7th of the following 
December, declared that " the officer com- 
manding the North-western army had forced 
the enemy to a general action, which termi- 
nated in the capture of the British and disper- 
sion of the savage force — a result signally hon- 
our able to Major-General Harrison , hy whose 
military talents it ivas performed.''^ 

Among many others, whose grateful feelings 
found utterance on this occasion, the Hon. 
Langdon Cheves observed, on the floor of Con- 
gress, that — " The victory of Harrison was 
such as would have secured to a Roman gene- 
ral, in the best days of the Republic, the hon- 
ours of a triumph." A sentiment which was 
fully responded to in the complimentary no- 
tices which he received from every part of the 
14* 



162 LIFE OF 

union. Simon Snyder, who was then Gover- 
nor of Pennsylvania, and the idol of the de- 
mocracy of that state, said in his address to 
the Legislature, on this occasion, " The bless- 
ings of thousands of women and childi^en res- 
cued from the scalping-knife of the ruthless sav- 
age of the wilderness, and from the still more 
savage Proctor, rest on Harrison and his gal- 
lant army." But the feelings that prompted 
these expressions were not confined to those 
individuals, who, from their station, were more 
particularly called upon to notice the events 
of the war — they appeared rather to exist uni- 
versally throughout the country. 

Our army continued to occupy the battle- 
ground for two days, employed in burying the 
dead and collecting the public property of the 
enemy, of which a large quantity was found 
.at different places. In addition to the artillery 
already mentioned, and a great variety of mil- 
itary stores, more than 5000 stand of small- 
arms were captured by our troops or destroy- 
ed by the enemy during this expedition. A 
large number of the latter had been taken from 
us at the surrender of Detroit, at the massa- 
cre of the River Raisin, and at Dudley's de- 
feat; and their recapture was therefore pecu- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 163 

liarly grateful to our troops, and more espe- 
cially to the warm-hearted Kerituckians, many 
of whom joyfully recognized among the spoils 
the favourite weapons of their old comrades 
and less fortunate fellow-soldiers. 

On the 7th of October, the different corps 
of our armv commenced their return home, 
having first embarked the greater part of the 
property they had captured in boats on the 
Thames, and set fire to the Moravian Town, 
a small village occupied chiefly by Delaware 
Indians, who professed to be of the Moravian 
sect of religion. On the 10th, all the troops 
arrived with their prisoners at Sandwich. 

In the mean time General Harrison had con- 
cluded an armistice with the Indians. A depu- 
tation of the Ottawas and Chippewas had sued 
for peace, which the general granted on con- 
dition that they should give up their alliance 
with the British, and openly declare in favour 
of the United States, and that they should 
bring in their families as hostages for their 
good behaviour. The Miamies and the Pot- 
tawatomies, who had been our fiercest oppo- 
nents, likewise solicited a cessation of hos- 
tilities, on the same conditions, and agreed to 
deliver up all their prisoners at Fort Wayne. 



164 LIFE OF 

Disheartened by our victories on Lake Erie, 
and at the Thames, and separated from the 
allies who had given them all their supplies, 
they were now glad to accept our friendship 
on any terms that would save them from ex- 
termination by famine or the sword. 

Having thus entirely defeated the British 
and subdued the Indians in Upper Canada, 
General Harrison advanced with a part of his 
army to the Niagara frontier, and thence to 
Sackett's Harbour where he left the troops, 
and proceeded to the seat of government. On 
his way thither, he passed through New York 
and Philadelphia ; in which cities he was re- 
ceived, by the whole population, with the most 
flattering marks of public honour and distinc- 
tion. After the necessary delay of a few days 
at Washington, General Harrison proceeded 
to Ohio, where important duties required his 
presence. 

In the plan for the ensuing campaign, to 
the surprise and regret of the public. General 
Harrison was designated for a service, far 
inferior to that which he had a right to ex- 
pect. Regardless of the memorable victories 
which this gallant and experienced officer 
had won, and unmindful of the various and 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 165 

important services which he had rendered to 
his country, the Secretary of War, the noto- 
rious John Armstrong, saw fit to assign to 
him the command of a district, where he 
would be compelled to remain inactive, while 
others were appointed to those more arduous 
duties, which he had heretofore fulfilled with 
so much honour to himself, and to the nation. 
As if still unsatisfied with this egregious insult 
which he had offered to General Harrison, 
the Secretary of War, on the 25th of April, 
1814, appointed a subordinate officer to a 
separate command within his district, and 
notified him to that efl^ect. On the receipt of 
this notification. General Harrison instantly 
sent in his resignation to the Secretary of 
War, and at the same time addressed a letter 
on the subject to President Madison, couched 
in such simple yet manly language, and ex- 
pressive of such noble sentiments, that we 
cannot refrain from quoting it. 

" I have this day," said General Harrison, 
"forwarded to the Secretary of War my 
resignation of the commission I hold in the 
army. 

" This measure has not been determined on, 
without a reference to all the reasons which 



166 LIFE OF 

should influence a citizen who is sincerely 
attached to the honour and interests of his 
country, who believes that the war in which 
we are engaged is just and necessary; and 
that the crisis requires the sacrifice of every 
private consideration, which could stand in 
opposition to the public good. But after giv- 
ing this subject a most mature consideration, 
I am perfectly convinced that my retiring 
from the army is as compatible with the 
claims of patriotism, as it is with those of my 
family, and a proper regard for my own feel- 
ings and honour. 

"I have no other motive for writing this 
letter, than to assure you, that my resignation 
was not produced by any diminution of the 
interest which I have always taken in the 
success of your administration, or of respect 
and attachment for your person. The for- 
mer can only take place when I forget the 
repubhcan principles in which I have been 
educated, and the latter, when I shall cease to 
regard those feelings which must actuate 
every honest man, who is conscious of fa- 
vours that it is out of his power to repay." 

As soon as Governor Shelby heard of the 
resignation of General Harrison, he lost no 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 167 

time in addressing the president in his usual 
forcible terms, to prevent its being accept- 
ed ; but unfortunately for the public interests, 
the president was then on a visit to Virginia, 
to which place the letters from General Har- 
rison and Governor Shelby were forwarded, 
and that of the latter was not received until 
after Secretary Armstrong, ivithoiit the pre- 
vious consent of the president, had assumed to 
himself the high prerogative of accepting the 
resignation. The president expressed his 
great regret that the letter of Governor 
Shelby had not been received earlier, as in 
that case the valuable services of General 
Harrison would have been preserved to the 
nation in the ensuing campaign. 

In this resignation, General Harrison dis- 
played the true patriotism and disinterested- 
ness, which have always marked his conduct. 
He would cheerfully have devoted his ser- 
vices to his country, even in an appointment 
inferior to that which should have been as- 
signed to him ; but he was too high-principled 
to retain his rank, by yielding assent to a 
measure, which he considered to be subver- 
sive of military order and discipline; and 
though his own fortune had been shattered by 



168 LIFE OF 

the neglect of his private affairs, for the bene- 
fit of the pubhc, and it would therefore have 
been exceedingly convenient to have retained 
the rank and pay of a major general ; yet he 
scorned to receive the emoluments of his 
office, when he was no longer permitted to 
perform its duties actively and honourably. 

It would be difficult at this period, to trace 
out the true motives that induced the Secre- 
tary of War to the unjustifiable course he 
pursued in this afiair. But some knowledge 
of those events of the war in wdiich he bore a 
part, with a little insight into human nature, 
would suggest that the leading causes which 
prompted him, were the envy and jealousy, 
which a narrow-minded man would naturally 
feel, on contrasting his own feeble efforts, and 
abortive attempts, with the consummate skill, 
the brilliant victories, and the almost uniform 
successes of another. That he had acted in 
an arbitrary and unwarrantable manner, was 
afterwards clearly proved. — And in the inves- 
tigation which took place in Congress in the 
winter of 1816-17, it became so evident that 
General Harrison had been treated with great 
injustice by the war department, that a reso- 
lution, giving him a gold medal and the thanks 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 169 

of Congress, was passed, with but one dissent- 
ing voice in both houses of Congress. 

The leading events in the campaign of 
1812-13,— the gallant defence of Fort Meigs, 
and the decisive victory of the Thames, are 
lasting memorials of General Harrison's mili- 
tary genius. Yet, for those isolated actions, 
he deserves far less praise than for the skilful 
operations and the Fabian policy, which led 
to these and other successes. The prudent 
care and indefatigable exertions, by which he 
provided for his army in a wild and almost 
impassable country — the promptness and un- 
wearied activity, with which he met and de- 
feated the schemes of his antagonists — and 
the admirable skill, with which he held in 
check an enemy far superior in numbers, and 
with a small force protected an extended line 
of frontier, and guarded the lives and property 
of thousands of his fellow-citizens, betokened 
a genius of the highest order, with a vigorous 
mind constantly on the alert. 



15 

i: 



170 LIFE OF 

CHAPTER X. 

Appointment of General Harrison as Commissioner to 
treat with the Indians. — His election to Congress. — 
Is chosen a Senator of the State Legislature. — His 

- election to the Senate of the United States. — Is ap- 
pointed Minister to Colombia. — His Letter to Bolivar. 
— His recall. — His personal appearance and private 
Character, — His Letter to Harmar Denny. 

Soon after the resignation of General Har- 
rison, in the summer of 1814, President Madi- 
son evinced an unabated confidence in his 
abilities and ' integrity by appointing him to 
treat with the Indians, in conjunction with his 
old companions in arms. Governor Shelby and 
General Cass. In the following year, he was 
placed at the head of another commission, 
appointed to treat with the north-western tribes. 
The honourable and advantageous treaties 
made in both these cases, afforded new in- 
stances of the unfailing success, that has al- 
ways attended General Harrison's negotia- 
tions with the Indians. 

In 1816, he was elected, by a large majo- 
rity, a member of the House of Representa- 
tives in Congress, from Ohio. During the fol- 
lowing session, there occurred in the House 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 171 

of Representatives the interesting and cele- 
brated debate on the conduct of General Jack- 
son in the Seminole war — on which occasion, 
General Harrison delivered an able and elo- 
quent speech. He praised General Jackson 
for his gallantry; defended such of his acts 
as he thought right, and gave him credit for 
patriotic motives ; but he voted in favour of 
the resolution to censure him for the unwar- 
rantable power he had assumed in taking pos- 
session of the Spanish posts. This speech and 
vote were never forgiven by General Jackson. 

General Harrison continued to serve in the 
House of Representatives of the United States, 
greatly to his own honour and to the satisfac- 
tion of his constituents, until 1819; when, on 
the expiration of his term of service, he was 
chosen to the Senate of the State Legislature. 

In 1824, General Harrison was elected a 
Senator of the United States ; and soon after 
taking his seat was appointed Chairman of the 
Military Committee, in place of General Jack- 
son, who had resigned. , While serving in this 
high station, he commanded universal respect. 
His views as a statesman were liberal and ex- 
tended, — his remarkable readiness in debate 
soon rendered him a prominent member, — » 



172 LIFE OF 

and the nervous and impassioned eloquence, 
and classical felicity of illustration, with which 
he enforced his arguments, gained him much 
influence. 

As Chairman of the Military Committee, 
General Harrison introduced a bill for the 
prevention of desertion in the army. This 
object, with his customary and generous hu- 
manity, he proposed to effect, not by increas- 
ing the punishment, but by raising the moral 
character of the army ; by elevating the grade 
of the non-commissioned officer ; by increas- 
ing his pay and responsibility ; and by hold- 
ing out additional inducements to the common 
soldier to perform his duty faithfully. He 
likewise devoted himself warmly to the sub- 
ject of military pensions; and endeavoured 
to procure the passage of a uniform law em- 
bracing the cases of all those who then were, 
or who should be deserving of that species of 
honourable reward and justice from their 
country. His efforts, on this occasion, in fa- 
vour of the surviving soldiers of the revolu- 
tion, will not soon be forgotten by the de- 
scendants of those heroes. 

In 1828, General Harrison was appointed 
by President Adams, envoy extraordinary and 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 173 

minister plenipotentiary to the Republic of Co- 
lombia. He accepted this appointment, and 
proceeding immediately upon his mission, land- 
ed at Maracaybo on the 22d of December, in 
that year, and thence repaired to Bogota, the 
capital of Colombia. He was received with 
the most flattering demonstrations of respect ; 
but his liberal ideas, his stern integrity, and 
the plain republican simplicity of his dress and 
manners, were too strongly in contrast with 
the arbitrary opinions, and the ostentatious 
display of the Court at Bogota, to permit him 
long to remain a favourite with the public offi- 
cers and the courtiers of the Colombian Go- 
vernment. They soon began to fear that the 
people would perceive the difference between 
a real and a pretended patriot, and that a com- 
parison so disadvantageous to themselves 
might perhaps seriously interfere with their 
grasping ambition for the future. But though 
too honest and pure-minded to be a favourite 
at this court. General Harrison's intelhgence, 
his strict attention to the, duties of his office, 
and his manly and gallant bearing commanded 
universal respect. 

The Republic of Colombia was at that time 
in a very deplorable condition; the people 
15* 



174 LIFE OF 

were ignorant of their rights, and almost in a 
state of anarchy ; and BohVar was apparently 
about to assume the despotic power of a mili- 
tary dictator. Shocked at this state of things, 
General Harrison, with the frankness of an 
old soldier, wrote his celebrated letter to Boli- 
var, not in his diplomatic capacity, but as a 
personal friend, and addressed him in a strain 
of noble and thrilling eloquence which has 
rarely been equalled. So chaste and vigorous 
is the language of this letter, and so deeply is 
it imbued with the purest and most exalted 
sentiments of republican freedom, that, limited 
as our space is, we cannot refrain from giving 
it to our readers entire. 

" Bogota^ 27th September, 1829. 
Sir : — 
If there is any thing in the style, the mat- 
ter, or the object, of this letter, which is cal- 
culated to give offence to your Excellency, I 
am persuaded you will readily forgive it, 
when you reflect on the motives which in- 
duced me to write it. An old soldier could 
possess no feelings but those of the kindest' 
character, towards one who has shed so much 
lustre on the profession of arms ; nor can a 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 175 

citizen of the country of Washington cease 
to wish that, in Bolivar, the world might be- 
hold another instance of the highest military 
attainments united with the purest patriotism, 
and the greatest capacity for civil govern- 
ment. 

Such, sir, have been the fond hopes, not 
only of the people of the United States, but 
of the friends of liberty throughout the world. 
I will not say that your Excellency has formed 
projects to defeat these hopes. But there is 
no doubt, that they have not only been formed, 
but are, at this moment, in progress to matu- 
rity, and openly avowed by those who possess 
your entire confidence. I will not attribute to 
these men impure motives ; but can they be 
disinterested advisers ? Are they not the very 
persons who will gain most by the proposed 
change ? — who will, indeed, gain all that is to 
be gained, without furnishing any part of the 
equivalent ? That that, the price of their fu- 
ture weahh and honours, is to be furnished 
exclusively by yourself? And of what does 
it consist? Your great character. Such a 
one, that, if a man were wise, and possessed 
of the empire of the Csesars in its best days, 
he would give all to obtain. Are you pre- 



176 LIFE OF 

pared to make this sacrifice, for such an ob- 
ject? 

I am persuaded that those who advocate 
these measures, have never dared to induce 
you to adopt them, by any argument founded 
on your personal interests ; and that, to suc- 
ceed, it would be necessary to convince you 
that no other course remained, to save the 
country from the evils of anarchy. This is 
the question, then, to be examined. 

Does the history of this country, since the 
adoption of the constitution, really exhibit un- 
equivocal evidence that the people are unfit to 
be free ? Is the exploded opinion of a Euro- 
pean philosopher, of the last age, that " in the 
new hemisphere, man is a degraded being,*' 
to be renewed, and supported by the example 
of Colombia ? The proofs should, indeed, be 
strong, to induce an American to adopt an 
opinion so humiliating. 

Feeling always a deep interest in the suc- 
cess of the revolutions in the late Spanish 
America, I have never been an inattentive ob- 
server of events pending, and posterior to the 
achievement of its independence* In these 
events, I search in vain for a single fact to 
show thatj in Colombia at least, the state of 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 177 

society is unsuited to the adoption of a free 
gov^ernment. Will it be said that a free go- 
vernment did exist, but, being found inade- 
quate to the objects for which it had been in- 
stituted, it has been superseded by one of a 
different character, with the concurrence of a 
majority of the people? 

It is the most difficult thing in the world 
for me to believe that a people in the posses- 
sion of their rights as freemen, would ever be 
willing to surrender them, and submit them- 
selves to the will of a master. If any such 
instances are on record, the power thus trans- 
ferred has been in a moment of extreme pub- 
lic danger, and then limited to a very short 
period. I do not think that it is by any means 
certain, that the majority of the French peo- 
ple favoured the elevation of Napoleon to the 
throne of France. But, if it were so, how 
different were the circumstances of that coun- 
try from those of Colombia, when the consti- 
tution of Cucuta was overthrown I At the 
period of the elevation of Napoleon to the 
first consulate, all the powers of Europe were 
the open or secret enemies of France — civil 
war raged within her borders ; the hereditary- 
king possessed many partisans in every pro- 



178 LIFE OF 

vince ; the people, continually betrayed by the 
factions which murdered and succeeded each 
other, had imbibed a portion of their ferocity, 
and every town and village witnessed the in- 
discriminate slaughter of both men and wo- 
men, of all parties and principles. Does the 
history of Colombia, since the expulsion of 
the Spaniards, present any parallel to these 
scenes ? Her frontiers have been never seri- 
ously menaced — no civil war raged — not a 
partisan of the former government was to be 
found in the w^hole extent of her territory — 
no factions contended with each other for the 
possession of power ; the executive govern- 
ment remained in the hands of those to whom 
it had been committed by the people, in a fair 
election. In fact, no people ever passed from 
under the yoke of a despotic government, to 
the enjoyment of entire freedom, with less dis- 
position to abuse their newly acquired power, 
than those of Colombia. They submitted, in- 
deed, to a continuance of some of the most 
arbitrary and unjust features which distin- 
guished the former government. If there was 
any disposition, on the part of the great mass 
of the people, to effect any change in the ex- 
isting order of things ; if the Colombians act 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 179 

from the same motives and upon the same 
principles which govern mankind elsewhere, 
and in all ages, they would have desired to 
take from the government a part of the power, 
which, in their inexperience, they had confided 
to it. • The monopoly of certain articles of 
agricultural produce, and the oppressive duty 
of the Alcavala, might have been tolerated, 
until the last of their tyrants were driven from 
the country. But when peace was restored, 
when not one enemy remained within its bor- 
ders, it might reasonably have been supposed 
that the people would have desired to abolish 
these remains of arbitrary government, and 
substitute for them some tax more equal and 
accordant with republican principles. 

On the contrary, it is pretended that they 
had become enamoured with these despotic 
measures, and so disgusted with the freedom 
they did enjoy, that they were more than wil- 
ling to commit their destinies to the uncon- 
trolled will of your Excellency. Let me 
assure you, sir, that these assertions will gain 
no credit with the present generation, or with 
posterity. They will demand the facts which 
induced a people, by no means deficient in 
intelligence, so soon to abandon the principles 



180 LIFE OF 

for which they had so gallantly fought, and 
tamely surrender that Uberty, which had been 
obtained at the expense of so much blood. 
And what facts can be produced 1 It cannot 
be said that life and property were not as well 
protected under the republican government, 
as they have ever been ; nor that there existed 
any opposition to the constitution and laws, 
too strong for the ordinary powers of the go- 
vernment to put down. 

If the insurrection of General Paez, in Ve- 
nezuela, is adduced, I would ask, by what 
means was he reduced to obedience ? Your 
Excellency, the legitimate head of the repub- 
lic, appeared, and, in a moment, all opposition 
ceased, and Venezuela was restored to the 
republic. But, it is said, that this was effected 
by your personal influence, or the dread of 
your military talents, and that, to keep Gene- 
ral Paez, and other ambitious chiefs, from 
dismembering the republic, it was necessary 
to invest your Excellency with the extraordi- 
nary powers you possess. There would be 
some reason in this, if you had refused to act 
without these powers; or, having acted as 
you did, you had been unable to accomplish 
any thing without them. But you succeeded 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 181 

completely, and there can be no possible rea- 
son assigned, why you would not have suc- 
ceeded, with the same means, against any" 
future attempt of General Paez, or any other 
general. 

There appears, however, to be one senti- 
ment, in which all parties unite ; that is, that,, 
as matters now stand, you alone can save the- 
country from ruin, at least, from much ca- 
lamity. They differ, however, very widely,, 
as to the measures to be taken to put your 
Excellency in the way to render this impor- 
tant service. The lesser, and more interested 
party, is for placing the government in your 
hands for life ; either with your present title, 
or with one which, it must be confessed, bet- 
ter accords with the nature of the powers to 
be exercised. If they adopt the less offensive 
title, and if they weave into their system some 
apparent checks to your will, it is only for the- 
purpose of masking, in some degree, their real 
object ; which is nothing short of the establish- 
ment of a despotism. The plea of necessity, 
that eternal argument of all conspirators, an- 
cient or modern, against the rights of man- 
kind, will be resorted to, to induce you to 
accede to their measures; and the unsettled 
16 



182 LIFE OF 

state of the country, which has been design- 
edly produced by them, will be adduced as 
evidence of that necessity. 

There is but one way for your Excellency 
to escape from the snares which have been so 
artfully laid to entrap you, and that is, to stop 
short in the course which, unfortunately, has 
been already commenced. Every step you 
advance, under the influence of such councils, 
will make retreat more difficult, until it will 
become impracticable. You will be told that 
the intention is only to vest you with authority 
to correct what is wrong in the administration, 
and to put down the factions, and that, when 
the country once enjoys tranquillity, the go- 
vernment may be restored to the people. 
Delusive will be the hopes of those who rely 
upon this declaration. The promised hour of 
tranquillity will never arrive. If events tended 
to produce it, they would be counteracted by 
the government itself It was the strong re- 
mark of a former President of the United 
States, that, " Sooner will the lover be con- 
tented with the first smiles of his mistress, 
than a government cease to endeavour to pre- 
serve and extend its powers." With whatever 
reluctance your Excellency may commence 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 183 

the career ; with whatever disposition to aban- 
don it, when the obiects for which it was com- 
menced have been obtained ; when once fairly- 
entered, you will be borne along by the irre- 
sistible force of pride, habit of command, and, 
indeed, of self-preservation, and it will be im- 
possible to recede. 

But, it is said, that it is for the benefit of 
the people that the proposed change is to be 
made ; and that by your talents and influence, 
alone, aided by unlimited power, the ambi- 
tious chiefs in the difl^erent departments are to 
be restrained, and the integrity of the republic 
preserved. I have said, and I most sincerely 
believe, that, from the state into which the 
country has been brought, you alone can 
preserve it from the horrors of anarchy. But 
I cannot conceive that any extraordinary 
powers are necessary. The authority to see 
that the laws are executed ; to call out the 
strength of the country, to enforce their exe- 
cution, is all that is required, and is what is 
possessed by the Chief Magistrate of the 
United States, and of every other republic ; 
and is what was confided to the executive, 
by the constitution of Cucuta. Would your 
talents or your energies be impaired in the 



184 LIFE OF 

council, or the field, or your influence less- 
ened, when acting as the head of a republic ? 
I propose to examine, very briefly, the re- 
sults which are likely to flow from the pro- 
posed change of government: 1st, in relation 
to the country ; and 2d, to yourself, personally. 
Is the tranquillity of the country to be secured 
hy it ? Is it possible for your Excellency to 
believe, that when the mask has been thrown 
off', and the people discover that a despotic 
government has been fixed upon them, they 
wall quietly submit to it? Will they forget 
the pass-word which, like the cross of fire, 
was the signal for rallying to oppose their for- 
mer tyrants ? Will the virgins, at your bid- 
ding, cease to chaunt the songs of liberty, 
which so lately animated the youth to vic- 
tory? Was the patriotic blood of Colombia 
all expended in the fields of Vargas, Bayaca, 
and Carebobo? The schools may cease to 
enforce upon their pupils the love of country, 
drawn from the examples of Cato and the 
Bruti, Harmodius and Aristogiton; but the 
glorious example of patriotic devotion, ex- 
hibited in your own hacienda, will supply 
their place. Depend on it, sir, that the mo- 
ment which shall announce the continuance 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 185 

of arbitrary power, in your hands, will be the 
commencement of commotions which will 
require all your talents and energies to sup- 
press. You may succeed. The disciplined 
army, at your disposal, may be too powerful 
for an unarmed, undisciplined, and scattered 
population; but one unsuccessful effort will 
not content them, and your feelings will be 
eternally racked by being obliged to make 
war upon those who have been accustomed 
to call you their father, and to invoke bless- 
ings on your head, and for no cause but their 
adherence to principles which you yourself 
had taught them to regard more than their 
lives. 

If by the strong government which the ad- 
vocates for the proposed change so strenuously 
recommend, one without responsibility is in- 
tended, which may put men to death, and im- 
mure them in dungeons, without trial, and one 
where the army is every thing, and the people 
nothing, I must say, that, if the tranquillity of 
Colombia, is to be preserved in this way, the 
wildest anarchy would be preferable. Out of 
that anarchy a better government might arise ; 
but the chains of military despotism once fas- 
16* 



186 LIFE OF 

tened upon a nation, ages might pass away 
before they could be shaken off. 

But I contend that the strongest of all go- 
vernments is that which is most free. We 
consider that of the United States as the 
strongest, precisely because it is the most 
free. It possesses the faculties, equally to 
protect itself from foreign force or internal 
convulsion. In both, it has been sufhciently 
tried. In no country upon earth, would an 
armed opposition to the laws be sooner or 
more effectually put down. Not so much by 
the terrors of the guillotine and the gibbet, as 
from the aroused determination of the nation, 
exhibiting their strength, and convincing the 
factious that their cause was hopeless. No, 
sir, depend upon it, that the possession of ar- 
bitrary power, by the government of Colom- 
bia, will not be the means of securing its tran- 
quillity; nor will the danger of disturbances 
solely arise from the opposition of the people. 
The power, and the military force which it 
will be necessary to put in the hands of the 
governors of the distant provinces, added to 
the nature of the country, will continually pre- 
sent to those officers the temptation, and the 
means of revolt. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 187 

Will the proposed change restore prosperity 
to the country ? With the best intentions to 
do so, will you be able to recall commerce to 
its shores and give new life to the drooping 
state of agriculture ? The cause of the con- 
stant decline, in these great interests, cannot 
be mistaken. It arises from the fewness of 
those who labour, and the number of those 
who are to be supported by that labour. To 
support a swarm of luxurious and idle monks, 
and an army greatly disproportioned to the 
resources of the country, with a body of offi- 
cers, in a tenfold degree disproportioned to 
the army, every branch of industry is op- 
pressed with burdens which deprive the inge- 
nious man of the profits of his ingenuity, and 
the labourer of his reward. To satisfy the 
constant and pressing demands which are 
made upon it, the treasury seizes upon every 
thing within its grasp — destroying the very 
germ of future prosperity. Is there any pros- 
pect that these evils will cease with the pro- 
posed change? Can the army be dispensed 
with ? Will the influence of the monks be no 
longer necessary? Believe me, sir, that the 
support which the government derives from 



188 LIFE OF 

both these sources, will be more than ever 
requisite. 

But the most important inquiry is, the effect 
which this strong government is to have upon 
the people themselves. Will it tend to im- 
prove and elevate their character, and fit them 
for the freedom which it is pretended is ulti- 
mately to be bestowed upon them 1 The 
question has been answered from the age of 
Homer. Man does not learn under oppres- 
sion those noble qualities and feelings which 
fit him for the enjoyment of liberty. Nor is 
despotism the proper school in which to ac- 
quire the knowledge of the principles of re- 
publican government. A government whose 
revenues are derived from diverting the very 
sources of wealth from its subjects, will not 
find the means of improving the morals and 
enlightening the minds of the youth, by sup- 
porting the systems of liberal education ; and, 
if it could, it would not. 

In relation to the effect which this invest- 
ment of power is to have upon your happiness 
and your fame, will the pomp and glitter of a 
court, and the flattery of venal courtiers, re- 
ward you for the troubles and anxieties 
attendant upon the exercise of sovereignty, 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 189 

every where, and those which will flow^ from 
your peculiar situation 1 Or power, supported 
by the bayonet, for that willing homage which 
you were wont to receive from your fellow- 
citizens? The groans of a dissatisfied and 
oppressed people will penetrate the inmost 
recesses of your palace, and you will be tor- 
tured by the reflection, that you no longer 
possess that place in their affections, which 
was once your pride and your boast, and 
which would have been your solace under 
every reverse of fortune. Unsupported by 
the people, your authority can be maintained, 
only, by the terrors of the sword and the scaf- 
fold. And have these ever been successful 
under similar circumstances? Blood may 
smother, for a period, but can never extin- 
guish the fire of liberty, which you have con- 
tributed so much to kindle, in the bosom of 
every Colombian. 

I will not urge, as an argument, the per- 
sonal dangers to which you will be exposed. 
But I will ask if you could enjoy life, which 
would be preserved by the constant execution 
of so many human beings — your countrymen, 
your former friends, and almost your wor- 
shippers. The pangs of such a situation will 



190 LIFE OF 

be made more acute, by reflecting on the hal- 
lowed motive of many of those who would 
aim their daggers at your bosom ; — that, like 
the last of the Romans, they would strike, 
not from hatred to the man, but love to the 
country. 

From a knowledge of your own disposition, 
and present feelings, your Excellency will not 
be willing to believe, that you could ever be 
brought to commit an act of tyranny, or even 
to execute justice wdth unnecessary rigour. 
But trust me, sir, that there is nothing more 
corrupting, nothing more destructive of the 
noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than 
the exercise of unlimited power. The man 
who, in the beginning of such a career, might 
shudder at the idea of taking away the life of 
a fellow-being, might soon have his conscience 
so seared by the repetition of crime, that the 
agonies of his murdered victims might become 
music to his soul, and the drippings of his 
scaffold afford "blood enough to swim in." 
History is full of such examples. 

From this disgusting picture, permit me to 
call the attention of your Excellency to one 
of a different character. It exhibits you as 
the constitutional chief magistrate of a free 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 191 

people, giving to their representatives the influ- 
ence of your great name and talents, to reform 
the abuses which, in a long reign of tyranny 
and misrule, have fastened upon every branch 
of the administration. The army, and its 
swarm of officers, reduced within the limits 
of real usefulness, placed on the frontiers, and 
no longer permitted to control public opinion, 
and be the terror of the peaceful citizen. By 
the removal of this incubus from the treasury, 
and the establishment of order, responsibility, 
and economy, in the expenditures of the go- 
vernment, it would soon be enabled to dispense 
with the odious monopolies, and the duty of 
the Alcavala, which have operated with so 
malign an effect upon commerce and agricul- 
ture, and, indeed, upon the revenues which 
they were intended to augment. No longer 
oppressed by these shackles, industry would 
everywhere revive : the farmer and the arti- 
san, cheered by the prospect of ample reward 
for their labour, would redouble their exer- 
tions : foreigners, with their capital and skill 
in the arts, would crowd hither, to enjoy the 
advantages which would scarcely elsewhere 
be found: and Colombia would soon exhibit 
the reality of the beautiful fiction of Fenelon — 



192 LIFE OF 

Salentum rising from misery and oppression 
to prosperity and happiness, under the coun- 
cils and direction of the concealed goddess. 

What objection can be urged against this 
course? Can any one, acquainted with the 
circumstances of the country, doubt its suc- 
cess in restoring and maintaining tranquillity ? 
The people would certainly not revolt against 
themselves ; and none of the chiefs who are 
supposed to be factiously incHned, would 
think of opposing the strength of the nation, 
when directed by your talents and authority. 
But it is said, that the want of intelligence 
amongst the people unfits them for the govern- 
ment. Is it not right, however, that the ex- 
periment should be fairly tried? I have al- 
ready said, that this has not been done. For 
myself, I do not hesitate to declare my firm 
belief that it will succeed. The people of Co- 
lombia possess many traits of character suita- 
ble for a republican government. A more 
orderly, forbearing, and well-disposed people 
are nowhere to be met with. Indeed, it may 
safely be asserted, that their faults and vices 
are attributable to the cursed government to 
which they have been so long subjected, and 
to the intolerant character of the religion, 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 193 

whilst their virtues are all their own. But, 
admitting their present want of intelligence, 
no one has ever doubted their capacity to ac- 
quire knowledge, and under the strong motives 
which exist, to obtain it ; supported by the in- 
fluence of your excellency, it would soon be 
obtained. 

To yourself the advantage would be as 
great as to the country ; like acts of mercy, 
the blessings would be reciprocal ; your per- 
sonal happiness secured, and your fame ele- 
vated to a height which would leave but a 
single competitor in the estimation of pos- 
terity. In bestowing the palm of merit the 
w^orld has become wiser than formerly. The 
successful warrior is no longer regarded as 
entitled to the first place in the temple of fame. 
Talents of this kind have become too common, 
and too often used for mischievous purposes, 
to be regarded as they once were. In this 
enlightened age, the mere hero of the field, 
and the successful leader of armies, may for 
the moment attract attention. But it will be 
such as is bestowed upon the passing meteor, 
whose blaze is no longer remembered, when 
it is no longer seen. To be esteemed emi- 
nently great, it. is necessary to be eminently 
17 



194 LIFE OF 

good. The qualities of the hero and the 
general must be devoted to the advantage of 
mankind, before he will be permitted to as- 
sume the title of their benefactor ; and the 
station which he will hold in their regard and 
affections will depend, not upon the number 
and the splendour of his victories, but upon 
the results and the use he may make of tho 
influence he acquires from them. 

If the fame of our Washington depended 
upon his military achievements, would the 
common consent of the world allow him the 
pre-eminence he possesses ? The victories at 
Trenton, Monmouth and York, brilliant as 
they were, exhibiting, as they certainly did, 
the highest grade of military talents, are 
scarcely thought of The source of the vene- 
ration and esteem which are entertained for his 
character, by every description of politicians 
— the monarchist and aristocrat, as well as 
the republican, is to be found in his undevi- 
ating and exclusive devotedness to the interest 
of his country. No selfish consideration was 
ever suffered to intrude itself into his mind. 
For his country he conquered; and the un- 
rivalled and increasing prosperity of that 
country is constantly adding fresh glory to his 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 195 

name. General, the course which he pursued 
is open to you, and it depends upon yourself 
to attain the eminence which lie has reached 
before you. 

To the eyes of military men, the laurels you 
won on the fields of Vargas, Bayaca and Ca- 
rebobo will be for ever green ; but will that 
content you? Are you willing that your name 
should descend to posterity, amongst the mass 
of those whose fame has been derived from 
shedding human blood, without a single ad- 
vantage to the human race ? Or shall it be 
united to that of Washington, as the founder 
and the father of a great and happy people ? 
The choice is before you. The friends of 
hberty throughout the world, and the people 
of the United States in particular, are w^aiting 
your decision with intense anxiety. Alexan- 
der toiled and conquered to attain the applause 
of the Athenians ; w' ill you regard as nothing 
the opinions of a nation which has evinced its 
superiority over that celebrated people, in the 
science most useful to man, by having carried 
into actual practice a system of government 
of which the wisest Athenians had but a 
gUmpse in theory, and considered as a blessing 
never to be realized, however ardently to be 



196 LIFE OF 

desired ? The place which you are to occupy- 
in their esteem depends upon yourself. Fare- 
well. 

W. H. HARRISON. 

General Harrison remained in Colombia but 
a short time — as General Jackson, on coming 
into power, availed himself of the earliest op- 
portunity to evince the resentment which the 
remembrance of Harrison's speech on the 
Seminole war had left still rankhng in his bo- 
som, by recalling him from this mission almost 
immediately after he had taken possession of 
the Presidential chair. 

Since the return of General Harrison from 
Colombia, he has Hved in comparative retire- 
ment, upon his farm at North Bend, on the 
Ohio, about fifteen miles below Cincinnati. 
With the most enticing opportunities of accu- 
mulating wealth, during his long government 
of Indiana, and superintendency of Indian af- 
fairs, he acquired none ; his honest and scru- 
pulous integrity were proof against the golden 
temptations. His time and best energies were 
devoted to the service of his country, and his 
own interests were ever, with him, a seconda- 
ry consideration. He even, when Governor 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 197 

of Indiana, greatly diminished the usual emolu- 
ments of such an office, by refusing to accept 
any of those fees, whether as governor or su- 
perintendent of Indian Affairs, which, before 
his time, had been customarily paid. For his 
services as commander of the expedition to 
Tippecanoe, he never asked nor received any 
compensation. And subsequently, when in 
command of our North-western army, though 
he lived as frugally and fared as hardly as any 
of his fellow-citizens in the ranks, yet, at his 
own expense, he purchased clothing and ne- 
cessary comforts for his sick and wounded 
soldiers, until he not only exhausted his pay as 
commander-in-chief, but seriously encroached 
too on his own private means. He therefore 
retired without the spoils of office, and with 
only a competency barely sufficient for his 
support ; but rich in what he esteemed of far 
greater value — in a reputation undimmed by 
a single tarnish, and in the honour and respect 
of all his fellow-citizens. 

We cannot refrain here from alluding to a 
circumstance which evinces the peculiar deli- 
cacy and honour which have always swayed 
General Harrison in his pecuniary transac- 
tions. A few years ago, it was ascertained 
17* 



198 LIFE OF 

that a large tract of land near Cincinnati 
which had been sold some time before for a 
mere trifle, under an execution against the ori- 
ginal proprietor, could not be held by the 
titles derived from the purchasers, on account 
of some irregularity in the proceedings. The 
legal title was in General Harrison and an- 
other gentleman, who were the heirs at law. 
This tract of land was exceedingly valuable 
and would have constituted a princely estate 
for both these heirs, had they chosen to insist 
on their legal rights — or they might have made 
some amicable arrangement with the purcha- 
sers, to which they would gladly have assent- 
ed, and have retained at least one half of this 
property, by giving up the remainder. But 
General Harrison had never yet suffered his 
interest to blind Iris true sense of justice and 
high-minded honour, nor did he in this instance. 
On being informed of the situation of this pro- 
perty, he obtained the assent of his co-heir, 
and immediately executed deeds in fee simple 
to the purchasers, without claiming any con- 
sideration except the trifling difference be- 
tween the actual value of the land when sold 
and the amount paid at the sherifl''s sale. 
There were in this tract, too, twelve acres of 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 199 

General Harrison's private property by dona- 
tion from his father-in-law, which had been 
improperly included in the sale, and which he 
might have retained both legally and equitably 
— but such was his nice sense of honour and 
scrupulous regard for the rights of others, that 
he suffered even these twelve acres to be in- 
cluded in the deed given to the purchasers. 
This portion of the land thus relinquished by 
General Harrison is now worth .more than 
one hundred thousand dollars ! 

In person, General Harrison is tall and slen- 
der; his features are irregular, but bold and 
strongly marked ; his eyes are dark, keen, and 
penetrating, his forehead is high and expan- 
sive, his mouth peculiarly denotes firmness 
and genius, and the expression of his counte- 
nance is highly indicative of intelligence and 
benevolence of character. From early man- 
hood he has never had the appearance of pos- 
sessing a robust constitution, but from the ac- 
tivity and temperate habits of his past life, few 
men at his age enjoy their moral and physical 
energies in such remarkable vigour. His man- 
ners are plain, frank, and unassuming, and his 
disposition is cheerful, kind, and generous, al- 
most to a fault. In his private intercourse he 



200 LIFE OF 

is beloved and esteemed by all who know him. 
In the various civil and military offices he has 
held, he has always been moderate and for- 
bearing, yet firm and true to his trust. No 
other commander has ever been more popular 
with our militia ; and the true secret of this 
cannot be better explained than by his own 
reply, when asked how he had gained this in- 
fluence : " By treating them," said he, " with 
affection and kindness ; by always recollect- 
ing that they were my fellow-citizens, whose 
feelings I was bound to respect ; and by shar- 
ing with them, on every occasion, the hard- 
ships which they were obliged to undergo." 

His suavity of manners, his generosity and 
kindness of heart, invariablv won him the warm 
affections of those who were placed under his 
authority; while his moderation, his disinterest- 
edness, his scrupulous attention to the pubhc 
interests, and the wisdom with which he exer- 
cised the extensive powers entrusted to him, 
commanded the respect and confidence of his 
fellow-citizens. 

General Harrison is likewise strictly and 
truly a pious man. Though he has always 
been noted for his particular attention to pub- 
lic worship and Christian offices, yet religion 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 201 

"with him has not been a Sabbath-day garment 
only, but rather an every-day familiar habit 
— not a mere sense of incumbent dutv, but a 
warm and spontaneous feeling, kindled into 
life in his early youth, and forming the hope 
and firm reliance of his manhood and declin- 
ing years. The writer of this biography deems 
it no betrayal of confidence to say that he has 
more than once, on entering at day-break the 
chamber of General Harrison, found him on 
his knees at his bedside, absorbed in his devo- 
tions to his Maker, when he could not have 
supposed that any eye save that of his God 
was resting on him. 

An incident, which occurred in Philadelphia 
on the visit of General Harrison to that city, 
in 1836, will serve, in some measure, to illus- 
trate the peculiar depth and single-heartedness 
of his truly Christian and devotional feelings. 
On the evening preceding the only Sabbath 
he then spent in that city, he was visited by 
two of his warm political friends, who stated 
to him, that as there were in Philadelphia two 
religious sects which comprised a much larger 
number of followers than any others, they 
thought it would be good policy in him to at- 
tend divine service at a church of one of these 



202 LIFE OF 

sects in the morning, and at a church of the 
other in the afternoon — and that they had, 
therefore, made arrangements to that effect. 
His reply was singularly characteristic. " Gen- 
tlemen," said he, after a moment's pause, " I 
thank you sincerely for your kindness, and re- 
gret only that I cannot take advantage of it — 
but I have already promised to attend divine 
service to-morrow, and when I go to Church I 
go to worship my God and not to electioneer.^^ 
This plain and simple reply came evidently 
from the heart, and carried a perfect convic- 
tion of its truth and sincerity to the minds of 
all who heard it. 

In the republican institutions of our country, 
birth and parentage are comparatively of very 
little importance ; and no candidate for public 
favour can found thereon the slightest claim 
to the respect or the support of his fellow-citi- 
zens. We have happily shaken off the thrall- 
ing prejudices of the old world, and a title to 
office and honourable distinction is not with 
us hereditary ; but every man must earn his 
own good name, and his claim on the favour 
of the people, by his own good deeds. Yet, 
aware, as every one must be, of the powerful 
influence of early education, it is worthy of 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 203 

remark, as well as gratifying to know, that a 
candidate for ptibiic office, in whom we feel 
an interest, passed all the early years of his 
life with the brightest examples of virtue con- 
stantly before him ; and under the parental tui- 
tion of one of those illustrious patriots, whose 
memory is revered by every true-hearted 
American. It is pleasing to be assured, that 
his first political sentiments were imbibed in a 
ischool of the purest republican principles. And 
when we trace up the career of this individual, 
from the spring-time of his youth, to the sum- 
mer of his manhood, and to the early autumn 
of his years, and see those principles closely 
adhered to throughout, we can scarcely resist 
the conviction, that his future course will be 
consistent with the past ; and that, with ma- 
tured abihties, he will be still more conspicu- 
ous for his republican principles, his modera- 
tion in office, his firm integrity, and his extend- 
ed and enlightened views as a statesman. Such 
were the early advantages of William Henry 
Harrison ; such has been his course thus far 
through fife ; and such is now the bright pro- 
mise, to a realization of which we may safely 
look forward, should the people see fit to place 
him in office. 



204 LIFE OF 

The principles that would govern General 
Harrison, should he be elected to the Presi- 
dency, may be known by the following ex- 
tracts from a letter addressed by him to the 
Hon. Harmar Denny, on the 2d of December, 
1838. 

" Among the principles proper to be adopt- 
ed by any Executive sincerely desirous to re- 
store the administration to its original simpli- 
city and purity, I deem the following to be of 
prominent importance. 

"I. To CONFINE ins SERVICE TO A SINGLE 
TERM. 

" II. To DISCLAIM ALL RIGHT OF CONTROL OVER 

THE PUBLIC TREASURE, witli the exceptioTi of 
such part of it as may be appropriated by law 
to carry on the public services, and that to be 
applied precisely as the law may direct, and 
draicn from the treasury agreeably to the long- 
established forms of that department 

" III. That he should never attempt to 
INFLUENCE THE ELECTIONS, either by the people 
or the state legislatures, nor suffer the federal 
officers under his control to take any other part 
in them than by giving their own votes when 
they possess the right of voting, 

" IV. Tlmt in the exercise of the veto power. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 205 

he should limit his rejection to: \st. Such as 
are in his opinion unconstitutional. 2d. Such 
as tend to encroach on the rights of the states 
or individuals. Sd. Such as, involving deep 
interests, may in his opinion require more ma- 
ture deliberation or reference to the will of the 
peo2)le to he ascertained at the succeeding elec- 
tions. 

" V. That he should never suffer the influ- 
ence of his name to he used for purposes of a 
purely party character. 

" VI. That in removal from office of those 
who hold their appointments during the plea- 
sure of the executive, the cause of such removal 
should he stated if requested, to the senate, at 
the time the nomination of a successor is made. 

" And last, but not least in importance, 

" VII. That he should not siffer the execu- 
tive department of the government to hecome 
the source of legislation ; hut leave the whole 
business of rnaking laws for the Union to the 
department to which the constitution has exclu- 
sively assigned it, until they have assumed that 
perfected shape, where and when alone the 
opinions of the executive may be heard. 

" A community of power in the preparation 

of the laws between the legislature and the 
18 



206 LIFE OF 

Executive Departments, must necessarily lead 
to dangerous combinations, greatly to the ad- 
vantage of a President desirous of extending 
his power. Such a construction of the con- 
stitution could never have been contemplated 
by those who framed it, as they well knew 
that those who propose the bills will always 
take care of themselves, or the interests of 
their constituents ; and hence the provision in 
the constitution, borrowed from that of Eng- 
land, restricting the originating of revenue 
bills to the immediate representatives of the 
people. So far from agreeing in opinion with 
the distinguished character who lately retired 
from the presidency, that Congress should 
have applied to him for a project of a banking 
system, I think that such an application would 
have manifested not only great subserviency 
upon the part of that body, but an unpardon- 
able ignorance of the chief danger to be ap- 
prehended from such an institution. That dan- 
ger unquestionably consists in a union of inter- 
ests between the executive and the bank. 
Would an ambitious incumbent of the execu- 
tive chair neglect so favourable an opportu- 
nity as the preparing of the law would give 
him, to insert in it provisions to secure his in- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 207 

fluence over it ? In the authority given to the 
President by the constitution, " to recommend 
to Congress such measures as he shall judge 
necessary and expedient," it was certainly ne- 
ver intended that the measures he recommend- 
ed should be presented in a shape suited for 
the immediate decision of the legislature. The 
sages who made the constitution too well knew 
the advantages which the crown of England 
derives from the exercise of this power by its 
ministers, to have intended it to be used by 
our Chief Magistrate, or the heads of depart- 
ments under his control. The boasted princi- 
ples of the English constitution, that the con- 
sent of the democratic branch is not only ne- 
cessary to receive money from the people, but 
that it is its inviolable prerogative also to ori- 
ginate all the bills for that purpose, is true in 
theory, but rendered utterly false and nugato- 
ry in effect, by the participation of the minis- 
ters of the crown in the details of legislation. 
Indeed the influence they derive from sitting 
as members of the House of Commons, and 
from wielding the immense patronage of the 
crown (constitutional or usurped) gives them 
a power over that body, that renders plausible, 
at least, the flattery, or as it is more probable, 



208 LIFE OF 

the intended sarcasm of Sir Walter Raleigh, 
in an address to James L, that the demand of 
the sovereign upon the Commons for pecuni- 
ary aid, was required only " that the tax might 
seem to come from themselves." 

******" The question may, perhaps, 
be asked of me, what security I have in my 
power to offer, if the majority of the Ameri- 
can people should select me for their Chief 
Magistrate, that I would adopt the principles 
which I have herein laid down, as those upon 
which my administration would be conduct- 
ed. I could only answer by referring to my 
conduct, and the disposition manifested in the 
discharge of the duties of several important 
offices which have heretofore been conferred 
upon me. If the power placed in my hands 
has, even on a single occasion, been used for 
any purpose other than that for which it was 
given, or retained longer than was necessary 
to accomplish the objects designated by those 
from whom the trusts were received, I will 
acknowledge that either will constitute a suf- 
ficient reason for discrediting any promise I 
may make, under the circumstances in which 
I am now placed. I am, dear sir, truly yours, 

" W. H. HARRISON. 

" To the Hon. Harmar Denny.'* 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 209 

Our confined limits restrain us from makinsr 
more extensive extracts from this admirable 
letter — the noble and truly republican senti- 
ments of which, together with its plain yet 
manly and vigorous language, forcibly remind 
us of the invaluable writin2;s of our revered 
Washington, 

The friends of General Harrison found no 
especial claim on his military services. His 
own sentiments on this subject we have al- 
ready quoted ; and his friends would scorn, 
as much as he would, any attempt to dazzle a 
single one of his fellow-citizens by the glory 
of his military renown, brilliant though it be. 
They would point rather to his numerous civil 
services, in the forty years he has devoted to 
his country ; to the various and important 
offices he has so ably filled — in the territorial 
governments, in the legislature of his own 
state, and in the house of representatives and 
senate of the United States ; and to the high 
order of abilities displayed in his speeches in 
congress, in his public acts, and in his volu- 
minous public correspondence. And we here 
take occasion to say, that all his letters and 
public papers have been exclusively written 
by himself; and that so far from his having 
18* 



210 LIFE OF 

called in the mental aid of another, to prepare 
his messages and dispatches, as some of our 
distinguished men have condescended to do, 
he has never even employed an amanuensis, 
to perform the manual labour of his corre- 
spondence. His ruling principles through life, 
appear to have been, an ardent love for his 
country, and an earnest desire to serve her 
best interests; with a devotion to the pure 
republican maxims of the revolution, alv^rays 
unwavering and consistent ; unlike the schem- 
ing poHticians of a more modern school, whose 
own interest is the polar star that guides them, 
whatever may betide their country. 

The services of General Harrison have 
always been rendered to his country and not 
to any pohtical faction : nor have his civil or 
military promotions ever been obtained by 
party arrangements or underhand manoeuvres; 
but, on the contrary, they were given him at 
the earnest wish and by the spontaneous con- 
fidence of his fellow-citizens. Neither has his 
present nomination for the presidency been 
made by a discontented faction or political 
party, but by the voluntary choice of a great 
majority of the people uttered by their chosen 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISOxN. 211 

delegates. And happily, the more his claims 
to the high office for which he has been nomi- 
nated are canvassed, the more acceptable will 
he become. A veteran soldier who has won 
for his country every battle he has fought, an 
experienced statesman whose integrity has 
been thoroughly tried and proved, a practical 
republican of the good old school, and an 
honest man — whose attachment to the true 
interests of the people is unquestionable, and 
who will rally about him the great mass of 
honest and intelligent citizens, and with their 
aid and support, will rescue the constitution, 
of late so trampled upon by party violence 
and executive usurpation. 

With tried patriotism, with abilities of the 
highest order, with integrity pure as the un- 
sullied snow, and with the truest republican 
principles, William Henry Harrison is now 
before his fellow-citizens, as a candidate for 
the highest office in their gift. In the long 
course of his public life, he has always openly 
avowed and proved himself a staunch advo- 
cate of popular rights, and is therefore truly 
THE CANDIDATE OF THE PEOPLE, 
He comes before them, not with a crowd of 



212 LIFE OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISOIN. 
pampered and still-grasping officials to intrigue 
and bribe for him, but with the noble frank- 
ness of an honourable and high-minded man, 
willing and desirous to be judged impartially 
by his° fellow-citizens, and ready to abide by 
their honest decision. 



THE END. 



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